Orange raises stake in Méditel by 9% to 49% in total

Orange, Fipar-Holding (the Moroccan Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion group), and FinanceCom today signed the final documentation increasing Orange’s interest in Méditel, the Moroccan telecommunications operator, in application of the agreements they signed in December 2010.

Through this transaction, Orange has acquired an additional nine per cent of Méditel’s capital and benefits from the rights set out in the December 2010 agreements. As a result, Orange now holds 49 per cent of Méditel’s share capital. The board of directors of Méditel will now be composed of five members proposed by Orange and four members appointed by the Moroccan shareholders. The company will now be fully consolidated in the financial statements of the Orange Group.

Created in 1999, Méditel opened up the telecoms market in Morocco in both fixed and mobile services. The operator has undertaken massive investments in its networks, which now include over 5,400 km of fibre optic cable, including 870 km in Morocco’s ten largest urban areas. In addition, Méditel will complete the overhaul of its mobile network this year, extending its 3G coverage to 95 per cent of the population. In March 2015, the Moroccan regulator ANRT assigned one of the three 4G licences to the operator. Méditel was the first operator to launch its 4G service, in June 2015.

Méditel counted more than 13 million mobile subscribers, representing a 31 per cent market share at the end of 2014.

The transaction has already received the necessary authorisations from the public authorities and the regulator.