By Sam Schechner
BARCELONA--Qatar Telecom's (QTEL.DO) chief executive said
Wednesday that Maroc Telecom (IAM.CL), could be a "good fit" with
its portfolio of operators, and it is now evaluating what it would
pay as an auction for Vivendi SA's (VIVHY) controlling stake in the
North African phone operator draws nearer.
Maroc Telecom "has a number of criteria that are a good fit for
us now, and we are at the stage where we are making final
evaluation of that opportunity," said Nasser Marafih, CEO of the
group, in an interview on the sidelines of the Mobile World
Congress in Barcelona. "But it has to be done at the right price,
it has to make sense."
Qatar Telecom is among a number of potential bidders that last
year expressed preliminary interest in Maroc Telecom, including
Korean operator KT Corp. (KT), Abu Dhabi's Emirates
Telecommunications Co. (ETISALAT.AD), or Etisalat, and France
Telecom SA (FTE).
Qatar Telecom's continued interest could help boost bidding at
Vivendi's auction as the Paris-based conglomerate tries to move
away from the telecoms business and toward media assets like
U.S.-based Universal Music Group and French TV and movie giant
Canal Plus. Vivendi has been auctioning both Maroc Telecom and
Brazilian broadband operator GVT.
Vivendi has confirmed the auctions, but also said it is in no
rush to sell. "We don't feel obliged to conclude if the price isn't
right," Vivendi Chief Financial Officer Philippe Capron said when
presenting 2012 earnings Tuesday.
Vivendi has been seeking roughly 5.5 billion euros ($7.19
billion) for its 53% stake in Maroc Telecom, according to people
familiar with the matter. Mr. Marafih would not comment on whether
he thought that price was fair, but indicated a willingness to look
beyond the unit's present market capitalization.
"We don't look at short term, we look at longer term, the agenda
for the business and how that is growing," Mr. Marafih said.
"Sometimes you pay a certain price knowing the asset could give you
more value in the future."
For Qatar Telecom, a potential purchase of Maroc Telecom would
fit in a broader strategy of expanding in the Middle East, North
Africa and Asia. In the past year, the company has spent more than
EUR3 billion increasing its stakes in the operators it owns. This
week, it said it would rebrand its operators around the world under
a single name, Ooredoo, which means "I want" in Arabic.
Mr. Marafih said Qatar Telecom is currently evaluating other
potential acquisitions, including potential expansion into Myanmar
or Libya.
"To us, scale is important. You have to be at least in the top
20 globally, you could go even higher. But the important thing for
us is to do things that make sense," Mr. Marafih said.
Write to Sam Schechner at sam.schechner@dowjones.com
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