Tunisia’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Anouar Maarouf has stated that the UAE’s Abraaj Group has obtained a 35% stake in Tunisie Telecom.
Addressing Tunisia’s parliament, Maarouf said that Abraaj Group was now “a new partner in Tunisie Telecom”, having acquired the stake from Dubai Holding’s Emirates International Telecommunications (EIT).
The total amount paid for the stake was not disclosed. EIT originally acquired the 35% holding in 2006 at a cost of $2.25 billion, and had previously voiced its intention to sell the stake. The remaining 65% majority stake in Tunisie Telecom is held by the country’s government.
In 2010, the Tunisian government announced that it would list shares equating to around 20% of the company’s value on the Paris and Tunis stock exchanges, in what would have been the first such offering on a European exchange by a Tunisian firm. However, this plan was scrapped in the wake of a public uprising in 2011 which resulted in the removal from office of former president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.
