Qatar in Cell C bid?
Qatar has made a takeover approach to the majority owner of Dubai-based Oger Telecom, which owns a controlling stake in Cell C, according to Reuters.
Citing “sources familiar with the matter,” Reuters notes that Qatar has directly approached Saudi Oger – owned by the family of late Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri – for its approximate 55% stake.
In purchasing the Oger Telecom stake, Qatar would also acquire Turk Telecom and its mobile unit Avea – and subsequently Cell C, in which Oger holds a 75% stake.
The news agency however, warned that a deal could be complicated by Saudi Telecom Co – which has a 35% share in Oger Telecom and first refusal should the stake come up for sale.
“It’s a complicated deal but the Qataris have shown their interest by going to the family straight. Going by the strength of their wallet, this is something they could pull off,” one of the sources told Reuters.
“There is no guarantee that the approach will lead to a deal given heightened execution risk due to market volatility,” one person familiar with the situation added.
Reuters noted that putting a price on the entire deal would difficult because Cell C is not listed – but the Turk Telecom stake alone would be worth at least $8.6 billion according to media group’s data.
Saudi Oger declined to comment and STC officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Earlier in January, Cell C announced the appointment of telecoms industry veteran, Alan Knott-Craig, as the new CEO of the group. He is set to join the company on April 1.
Cell C claims to have a customer market share of 14.5% in SA, having surpassed 8.2 million customers by end-December 2010. In August, the group announced a 5% year-on-year rise in revenue for 2010 of R10.2 billion, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation remained unchanged at R1.4 billion.
According to Birgitta Cederstrom, business unit leader, Africa ICT at international growth consulting and research firm, Frost & Sullivan, “Cell C has the right technical capabilities to serve both the enterprise, SME and consumer market; however it unfortunately seems that legacy perception about the carrier is hindering uptake of clients.
“It would make sense for a company who is considering entering the South African telecom’s market to acquire Cell C, but at the same time we think Cell C are capable of doing it themselves. The coming months will determine this.”
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