French media group Vivendi is aiming for a 35 per cent stake in its negotiations announced Friday with Dubai-based Oger Telecom, owned by Saudi Oger - a company controlled by Lebanon's Hariri family, sources said yesterday.
A source familiar with the situation told Gulf News that most of the terms of the deal have been agreed upon, with Vivendi insisting on a 35 per cent stake, and the deal could be announced as early as today if the size of the stake is mutually agreed.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported yesterday that Vivendi has settled for about a 33 per cent share in Oger, quoting unnamed sources.
Although Vivendi confirmed talks about the negotiations with Oger Telecom, it did not comment on the size of the stake it is seeking.
Oger also confirmed talks with Vivendi but did not elaborate on the details such as the size and pricing of the deal.
"Saudi Oger confirms that several parties have shown interest in a significant minority participation in Oger Telecom, including Vivendi, with whom discussions are currently underway.
At this stage Saudi Oger can make no further comment," the company said an e-mailed statement last week.
Oger Telecom is expected to raise $2.5 billion through private stake sales. However it is not known if a single deal with Vivendi or other minority stakes will be involved in raising this amount.
Sources said yesterday that Saudi Oger has no plans to yield control of the telecom company that has operations in the Middle East and Africa.
Saudi Oger is expected to retain a controlling stake of at least 40 per cent.
Earlier this year, Saudi Oger acquired a 10.36 per cent stake from Telecom Italia for $477 million.
Currently private equity arms of a number of banks including Deutsche Bank, ABN Amro and several local banks hold minority stakes in the company.
Fact file: French firm focuses more on MEA telecom assets
Oger Telecom runs fixed and mobile phone services in Turkey, a cellular business in South Africa and internet services in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Lebanon. The company cancelled a $1.25 billion initial public offering in November last year due to the region-wide market corrections.
Oger Telecom's largest asset is a controlling stake in Turk Telekom, which it bought for $6.6 billion in 2005. Vivendi has a controlling stake in SFR, France's second largest mobile operator, and Maroc Telecom, Morocco's leading telecoms company.
It initially bought a minority stake in Maroc Telecom later became a majority stakeholder in the company. Sources said Vivendi has plans to acquire and control more telecom assets in the Middle East and Africa (MEA). In June, Oger Telecom reported revenue of $5.8 billion for 2006, up four per cent and net income of $1.3 billion.
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