Etisalat buys 45 percent of Meditel, the Moroccan telecom operator

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(EntertainWire.Org) – According to Elaph, an electronic newspaper, the UAE-based operator Etisalat has beaten its competitors and managed to enter the Moroccan telecom market through acquiring 45% of Meditel, the second largest telecom operator in the country after Maroc Telecom. The deal is expected to become official on March 16th once the Presidents of the two companies, Othman Benjelloun from Meditel and Mohamed Omran from Etisalat, sign the agreement in Casablanca, Morocco according to the source.

Meditel obtained its license in 1999 and started operations in 2000 as a joint venture between different shareholders: Portugal Telecom 32.18%, Telefonica 32.18%, FinanceCom 18.06% and HoldCo 17.59%. However, in September 2009, Portugal Telecom and Telefonica sold their stakes to Moroccan investors: FinanceCom and CDG. Since the sale, Meditel has attracted giant operators like Qtel, Orascom, Batelco and Saudi Oger who have been racing to acquire stakes in the operator.

Etisalat, founded in 1976, is the 13th largest mobile operator in the world with over 100 million subscribers in 18 markets: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria, Benin, Niger, Gabon, Burkina Faso, Centrafrica, Togo, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, and Sri Lanka. These markets are to become 19 if the Meditel deal goes through.

According to Dataxis Intelligence, Meditel has crossed the 10 million mobile subscribers mark and controls around 37% of the mobile market in Morocco.