Etisalat eyes up Iraq stake

According to Gulf Daily News, UAE incumbent Etisalat has revealed that its planned Middle East acquisition will be in Iraq. ‘It is Iraq but it is not yet finalised. We will shortly announce it,’ Etisalat chairman Mohammed Omran said, on the sidelines of a news conference. Last week it was reported that that the firm was in the final stage of talks to buy a majority stake worth up to USD1 billion in a Middle East telecoms operator this year but did not announce the country. Etisalat has been expanding aggressively abroad, snapping up assets in countries such as Pakistan, Egypt and India, and now has a stake in operations in 16 countries.