By Karin Laub, The Associated Press. Used with permission by Iraq Business News. An Iraqi telecom company raised nearly $1.3 billion Sunday on Baghdad's small stock exchange in one of the region's biggest share offers in years — a sign of investor confidence in the fledgling private sector despite violence that still plagues the country. […]
By John Lee. According to a report from Bloomberg, Morgan Stanley is no longer a bookrunner for the IPO (initial public offering) of Asiacell, the Iraqi telecom operator majority-owned by Qatar Telecom (QTEL). A person with knowledge of the discussions told the news agency that, while Morgan Stanley is still an adviser on the deal, […]
Reuters reports that Qatar Telecom (Qtel) is to double its stake in Asiacell, Iraq's second biggest mobile operator, to 60 percent for $1.47 billion. Qtel will initially increase its stake to 53.9 percent from 30 percent, with a further increase pending Iraqi government and regulatory approval. Qtel did not identify the sellers of the stake, but […]
Reuters, citing banking sources familiar with the matter, reports that Qatar Telecom (Qtel) plans to buy out a private equity partner's 19-percent stake in Iraqi telecoms operator Asiacell. Qtel, the Gulf state's former monopoly, has a 30-percent stake in Asiacell, Iraq's number two operator, while its partner MerchantBridge owns 19 percent. Morgan Stanley is reportedly […]
Iraq's three main mobile phone companies - Zain Iraq, Asiacell and Korek - appear unlikely to meet a month-end deadline to list on the local stock exchange, raising the chances of them being penalised, according to Reuters. The companies are required by Iraqi law to launch initial public offerings on the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) by […]
Qatar Telecom (Qtel) has announced significant growth last year in its Iraqi Asiacell operations. Following on from the strong subscriber growth achieved in 2009, Asiacell has continued to increase its subscriber base this year leveraging its country-wide network. Asiacell's total subscriber base at 31 December 2010 stood at 8.1 million (FY 2009: 7.4 million). At […]
Qatar Telecom QSC, the country’s largest company by revenue, is mulling plans to sell shares to the public in its Iraqi unit in two years, according to its chief strategy officer. “We are beginning to think now about doing an IPO in Baghdad,” Jeremy Sell said at a presentation in the Qatari capital Doha today. […]
According to the Financial Times, the European telecom giant France Telecom is engaged in talks to buy a minority stake in the Iraqi mobile phone operator Korek, as part of a bid to expand its operations in the Middle East. Although no deal has yet been struck, financial observers say that a potential agreement could […]
The Iraqi Minister of Communications has called on international companies to do business in the country's telecoms sector. Speaking at Telecoms World Middle East, Farook Abdul-Rahman revealed: "As you are all aware, we are not short of resources and finance and what we are really looking for from you is the transfer of the latest […]
