Algeria May Take Control Of Wataniya Mobile Phone Unit 'Nedjma'

Algeria may act on its right of first refusal to take control of Wataniya’s “Nedjma” brand if Qatar Telecom (Qtel) goes ahead with a plan to totally acquire the Kuwaiti operator, Algerian Finance Minister Karim Djoudi was quoted as saying by local and foreign media outlets.

• Algeria may act on its right of first refusal to take control of Wataniya’s “Nedjma” brand if Qatar Telecom (Qtel) goes ahead with a plan to totally acquire the Kuwaiti operator, Algerian Finance Minister Karim Djoudi was quoted as saying by local and foreign media outlets.
• Mr Karim Djoudi told reporters Wednesday in Algiers: “If Qatar Telecom (Qtel) buys Wataniya completely, so there is a change of ownership…there is a rule that applies: 41%/59%.”
• Qatar Telecom (Qtel), which already owns 52.5% of Wataniya Telecom, received approval from Kuwait’s Capital Markets Authority in August to buy the remaining 47.5% stake for $2.2 billion.
• Algeria is already in a dispute with Amsterdam-based operator Vimpelcom over acquiring a controlling stake in Orascom Telecom’s local unit Djezzy which has a network that covers 84% of the population in Algeria and has 18.3 million customers.
• In 2011, Vimpelcom acquired Djezzy as part of a $6 billion agreement to buy assets of Orascom Telecom.
• However, the deal resulted in uncertainty after the Algerian government sought a majority stake in the mobile telephony unit.