Vodafone Group remained confident of selling its Egypt unit to Saudi Arabia operator STC, despite missing a deadline to finalise terms last week.
In a statement, Vodafone stated due diligence on its side was “substantively completed” in the preparation to sell its 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt.
“Despite the expiry of the MoU, Vodafone remains in discussion with STC to finalise the transaction in the near future. Vodafone now looks to STC and Telecom Egypt to find a suitable agreement to enable the transaction to close”, the operator said in a statement.
In a separate statement to Bloomberg, STC said its non-binding MoU to acquire the stake expired without a deal, and talks with Vodafone will continue.
The MoU was announced in January when STC offered $2.39 billion for the majority stake in Vodafone Egypt. Earlier this month, sources speaking to Bloomberg said STC sought a reduction to its non-binding bid for the majority stake.
The acquisition was already delayed to July as due diligence and procedures were disturbed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Vodafone Egypt has an enterprise value of $4.35 billion and holds more than 40 million mobile connections in the North African country. State-owned Telecom Egypt holds the remaining 45% stake in the operator.
