'Orange Kurd' a recipe for success? FT keeping a lid on it

The board of France Telecom (FT, Orange) will weigh up a proposal to acquire a stake in Iraqi wireless operator Korek Telecom at a meeting tomorrow (Wednesday 8 December), according to sources close to the French giant quoted by Reuters. One of the news agency’s sources said the acquisition would be on the agenda of the Wednesday board meeting, which another added would include a presentation on the deal currently being prepared. Late last month FT confirmed its strategic interest in Iraq and that it was ‘studying opportunities’ there, although the group has not publicly identified Korek as its acquisition target, and its spokespeople refused to comment to reporters. A mooted plan envisages FT taking a minority stake in the Kurd-owned operator, in a deal valuing the entire company at around USD1.5 billion. Korek is based in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region and is Iraq’s third largest cellco by subscribers. TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database notes that the Kurdish GSM operator won a nationwide licence in 2007 and has proceeded to branch out from its northern homeland to cover central and southern regions of Iraq.