25% of Omantel to be sold this year, says CEO

Incumbent operator Oman Telecoms (Omantel) expects to sell a 25% stake to a long-term investor by the end of year, the company’s chief executive said. ‘We’ve appointed Citigroup as financial adviser for the sale of a 25% stake in Omantel,’ Mohammed Al-Wohaibi told Reuters at a conference in Dubai. The company has already started the process and expects to complete the sale by the year-end, said Al-Wohaibi. UAE incumbent Etisalat has previously said it would be interested. The telco, which is 70%-state owned with the rest traded on the Muscat bourse, said earlier this year that up to 30% could be sold, although not to the public. Last month, Omantel posted its largest-ever quarterly profit as a result of paying lower royalties to the government, and extra revenues from a growing subscriber base.