OTMT studies investment opportunities as it quits Inertia takeover deal
Company mulls expansion in Egypt to boost revenues
Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding (OTMT) is currently studying new investment opportunities after it announced that its negotiations with Inertia for Engineering and Trading over the acquisition of a 51% stake in the company have been suspended, a senior company official told Daily News Egypt.
“We are currently working on some investment opportunities after the deal of Inertia was cancelled,” the official said.
In mid-April, the company said that its negotiations with Inertia for Engineering and Trading over the acquisition have been suspended.
“The talks have been suspended due to different reasons, including our new policy to evaluate every investment opportunity we decide to take,” the source added, commenting on reasons to quit the deal.
The two companies did not reach an agreement and, therefore, decided to end talks, OTMT said in a bourse statement.
The Egyptian Exchange-listed company’s board has approved the formation of an alliance with Inertia to seek tenders put out by Egypt’s New Urban Communities Authority.
In December 2017, OTMT’s board preliminarily approved the acquisition of a 51% stake of Inertia for Engineering and Trading.
Inertia was established by youth investors in 2007 and has a land portfolio of 6.5m sqm.
OTMT’s board had agreed to sell a 7% stake in Beltone Financial Holding to the company’s main shareholder, in order to finance the Inertia deal.
Last month, the company said that it will sell its shares in MENA Submarine Cable for $90m.
Notably, OTMT holds a 99.99% stake in MENA Submarine Cable.
The company aims at finalising the development of the Sphinx and the Great Pyramids of Giza’s Sound and Light Theatre by the end of 2018.
On 21 October, OTMT’s board agreed to establish an Egyptian jointstock company with the contribution of 124.2m shares for performing, designing,and managing sound and light shows.
The OTMT’s capital stands at around EGP 2.2bn divided over 5.2bn shares at a nominal value of EGP 0.42 per share.
The company recorded a net loss in Q3 2017 at EGP 128.4m, compared to a loss of EGP 54.2m in Q3 2016.
Meanwhile, the company’s operating revenue stood at EGP 358.9m, up from EGP 122.6m in the corresponding quarter last year.
For the first nine months of 2017, OTMT achieved a net profit of EGP 239.9m compared to a net loss of EGP 38.7m a year ago.