Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

STC Postpones Acquisition of Vodafone Egypt for Second Time


Sun 12 Jul 2020 | 10:29 PM
Taarek Refaat

The Saudi Telecom Company (STC), one of the largest in the Kingdom, said on Sunday that it will need another 60 days to complete the acquisition of a 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt.

In January, Saudi Telecom concluded a non-binding agreement to purchase the stake for $ 2.4 billion but, it extended the process for 90 days in April, due to what it said were logistical challenges caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The company said in a statement it would extend the period again to September for the same reason.

Last April, the Saudi giant has paused talks with banks regarding a $2 billion financial package for the acquisition of Vodafone Group Egypt due to disruption caused by the deadly virus.

STC share price drops 0.51% to SAR 97.50

It is noteworthy that the Public Investment Fund, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, owns a majority stake in Saudi Telecom.

Vodafone is competing in the Egyptian market with Orange and Telecom Egypt, a subsidiary of Emirates Telecom.

STC is headquartered in the Saudi Capital Riyadh, and employs more than 17,000 workers, with subsidiaries in Bahrain, Kuwait and others with revenues of about $13.9 billion.