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A decision could be made in November, according to reports
French telco group Orange is exploring the potential sale of its 40% share in Mauritius Telecom, according to a Bloomberg report citing anonymous sources.
According to the sources, Orange has met with advisers to discuss the potential sale, but has not yet spoken to Mauritius Telecom’s board regarding its interest in a share buyback scheme.
Orange has owned the 40% stake in the company since 2000, with the remaining 60% stake held by the Mauritian government various state-owned investment vehicles.
As the largest carrier in Mauritius, Mauritius Telecom serves approximately 1.3 million subscribers.
The potential stake sale comes as part of Orange’s strategic realignment to concentrate on its core assets and divesting from what it considers to be non-core holdings.
Orange is actively pursuing consolidation projects in Spain and Belgium. Its merger with MasMovil in Spain was given the greenlight by the European Commission back in February, subject to conditions on the sale of spectrum. Romania’s Digi (the largest MVNO in Spain) will acquire spectrum from MásMóvil in order to become a new fourth mobile operator.
“Convergence in Europe has proven to be key to our leadership in Europe and demonstrates how Orange’s new strategy, Lead the Future, will continue to meet the digital needs that our customers in Europe demand,” said Mari-Noëlle Jégo-Laveissière, the CEO of Orange Europe upon the company’s acquisition of telco operator VOO SA in June last year.
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