Etisalat receives waiver from Maroc Telecom minority shares offer

Etisalat has cancelled its offer to buy out the minority shareholders in Maroc Telecom after securing a special waiver from the local stock exchange.

Etisalat recently bought a 53 per cent stake in the Morocco telco, and under the Casablanca stock exchange rules was required to launch an offer to buy the remaining shares.

Just 17 per cent of the shares are listed on the stock exchange, with the remaining 30 per cent owned by the government, and it was expected that the stock exchange would offer an exemption from the mandatory offer as it would have reduced liquidity in the stock market.

Etisalat has now confirmed that it has received the waiver, and has cancelled the share purchase offer – which could have cost upwards of US$2 billion had all the shareholders wanted to sell.