Etisalat completes sale of stake in Sudan's Canar

Emirates Telecommunications Group (Etisalat) on Tuesday said it has completed the sale of its 92.3 percent stake in Sudanese fixed line operator Canar to Bank of Khartoum for AED 349.6 million.

The deal was completed after receiving all regulatory approvals from the Sudanese National Telecommunications Corporation and other authorities in the country, the Abu Dhabi-listed telco said a bourse statement.

Etisalat acquired a stake in Canar in 2004, and doubled its holding three years later. In 2012, the company took an impairment of AED 459 million on Canar due to local inflation, currency fluctuations, and difficult economic and political conditions.

Earlier, Etisalat had agreed to sell its stake to Zain Sudan for the same amount, but Bank of Khartoum in its capacity as a stake holder in the company exercised its right of first refusal to block the sale.

Write to Nadeshda Zareen at nadeshda.zareen@argaamplus.com