/ 13 November 2000

FRANCE TELECOM EYES SHARES IN MOBINIL

FRANCE Telecom wants to buy US firm Motorola’s shares in Egypt’s biggest mobile phone company, Mobinil, which would make the French company the largest shareholder, a source in Egyptian business circles said this week. Motorola currently holds 18%, France Telecom 23.5%, and Orascom Telecom, belonging to Egyptian businessman Nagib Sawiris 26.1%, with the remainder shared around various private investors. MobiNil started operating in May 1998 and has around one million subscribers, compared to around 700 000 for its only competitor, Click, a consortium headed up by Vodafone and AirTouch Communications. – AFP