MobiNil

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Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (ECMS) was initially launched by Egypt Telecom (formally known as ARENTO). The company started to be divested in May 1998 when the MobiNil consortium bought a 20% stake from Egyptian state-owned companies for US$53 million. The MobiNil consortium was integrated by France Telecom, Motorola and three Egyptian partners, including Orascom Telecom. The MobiNil joint venture between Motorola and France Telecom was subsequently awarded a 70% stake in the existing state-owned 80,000 line mobile network for US$514 million. In 2000, France Telecom reached an agreement with Motorola whereas it acquired an additional 25.15% stake in Mobinil, for a total amount of US$252 million, and the rest of Motorola's stake went to Orascom. This brought France Telecom's total stake in MobiNil to 71.25% and Orascom's to 28%. The MobiNil JV then owned a total 51% of ECMS, while Orascom held 16.6% on its own and 32.4% was free float. In July 2002, France Telecom transferred its ownership to its 85% owned subsidiary Orange SA for US$318 million in cash. By August 1998, MobiNil awarded a US$560 million contract to Alcatel for GSM equipment and services. The company competed only with Misrfone (now Votafone) by the end of 1998. MobiNil received a US$490 million, 15-month bridge facility in 1998. The bridge lending was arranged by ABN Amro, Societe Generale, Chase Manhattan and CIB. This facility funded MobiNil for its build-out and license acquisition costs. As part of a deal announced in December 2003, state-owned Telecom Egypt agreed to relinquish an unused third licence, leaving the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (MobiNil) (EMOB.CA) and Vodafone Egypt as the country's only two operators. Under the deal, the two firms were each to pay the NTRA 1.24 billion Egyptian pounds (US$201 million) over four years to gain access to spectrum previously held by Telecom Egypt. The NTRA retained the right to issue a licence to any other party. MobiNil reported a market-leading 4.016 million active subscribers at end-2004. In 2008, MobiNil bought a 15-year UMTS licence for US$286 million. In May 2012, it was announced that France Telecom purchased 93.9 million of the 100 million shares it had not previously held, at a price of US$ 33.04 (EGP202.5) per share, for a total of US$ 3.15 billion (EGP19 billion). The shares had been held by the local venture partner, Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT). The transaction was approved by Egypt's financial market regulator, the Egyption Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) in April that year. 1.08% of the shares remained free float. In February 2015, Orange announced the buy-out of Orascom's 5% stake in Mobinil for a total of USD 210 million. 2011: capex from Wireless Intelligence 2012: capex from Wireless Intelligence (extrapolation Q3 and Q4)