STC FULLY ACQUIRES BRAVO PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATION COMPANY

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) announces that it has Signed an agreement today Thursday 31.10.2013 with Wataniya International FZ LLC and Al Wataniya Gulf Telecommunications Company Holding Company (collectively the Parties) whereby STC shall acquire full ownership of Public Telecommunication Company Limited BRAVO a Saudi Arabian limited liability company.

Bravo has been operating a Push to Talk mobile service in the Kingdom commercially since 2005.

 In 2005 Bravo entered into a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) agreement with STC for 15 years to provide wireless communication services using iDEN technology operating on the SMR800 frequency band.

 However as a standalone business it was not a financially attractive proposition and required substantial investment for maintaining the quality of service. STC and the Parties entered into negotiations to transfer the ownership of Bravo to STC.

 As part of a final settlement of Bravos obligations towards STC it has been agreed that Parties will pay SR 244m to settle STC dues and to transfer all of Bravo assets to STC.

 The STC Board Of Directors have approved this settlement and authorized the Chairman of STC to negotiate finalize and sign the agreement.

The agreement was finalized and signed today. The transaction is still subject to regulatory authority’s approval.

 This transaction will not have any material financial impact on STC and there are no financial obligations as well relating to this transaction.

Chairman of STC Mr. Abdulaziz A. Alsugair stated that BRAVO today serves a very important and broad range of customers both government agencies and private businesses, with its unique Push to Talk technology.

While the service is crucial to these customers the long term viability of the technology would depend on appropriate returns corresponding to the investment required to maintain the service.

Additionally its inclusion into STC group will complement STCs enterprise offerings in Saudi market.

This acquisition would enable STC to extract synergies by bundled offerings and to significantly improve the quality of service to its customers.

He further added that BRAVO will further enhance its customer base by expanding its coverage in current and potential target segments such as in construction real estate Oil and Gas and Utilities.