An international arbitration court has settled a dispute over control of Mobinil, Egypt’s largest mobile operator, by ordering Orascom to sell all its shares in the operator’s holding company to Orange-owner France Telecom. Ruling in favour of France Telecom, the Arbitration Court of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has ordered Orascom to sell its 28.75 percent stake in the holding company by 10 April 2009. The deal will see France Telecom take 100 percent ownership of the holding company (also called Mobinil), which owns a majority 51 percent stake in ECMS, the mobile operator that uses the Mobinil brand. The 20 percent equity interest that Orascom Telecom holds directly in ECMS, as well as the free float of ECMS shares (the remaining 29 percent), do not fall within the scope of the ICC ruling.

In separate media statements, France Telecom and Orascom put different values on the transaction. France Telecom valued the stake at EUR530 million, while Orascom said the sale of its shares would generate approximately US$1.7 billion. Orascom noted that the arbitration, which it initiated back in 2007, had been prompted by “a difference in opinion [that] has arisen between the shareholders of Mobinil which has led to a deadlock situation.” France Telecom added that it would now be able to to consolidate the entire financial results of ECMS. On the basis of the 2008 results, this represents additional annual revenues of over EUR360 million and EBITDA of EUR165 million. Mobinil is Egypt’s largest mobile operator with 20.1 million subscribers at the end of last year. France Telecom did not say if it plans to relaunch the operator using its Orange brand.