Aug 09 2012 |
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Asiacell wins initial approval to list on Iraqi bourse
* Asiacell fined for missing deadline
* Rivals Zain and Korek still not listed
By Aseel Kami
BAGHDAD, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Mobile phone operator Asiacell has reached an initial agreement to list on the Iraqi bourse, the chief executive of the Iraq Stock Exchange ( ISX ) said on Thursday, making it the first mobile operator to do so.
"Asiacell made a request to be listed on the Iraqi bourse and the Iraq Securities Commission has agreed initially to the request," Taha Abdulsalam told Reuters.
Iraq did not have a mobile phone market under Saddam Hussein and the sector has boomed since his fall from power in 2003, offering double-digit subscriber growth. It is the fastest growing industry in the war-battered country after oil.
Asiacell, a unit of Qatar Telecommunications , and its two rivals in the market, Zain Iraq and Korek, have to make initial public offerings as a condition of their $1.25 billion operating licenses.
All three companies missed the deadline of August 2011.
Iraq's communications regulator in June decided to fine Asiacell $8,500 per day beginning on September 1, 2011 for its failure to list. Zain Iraq and Korek have also been paying fines from the same date.
Asiacell said in a statement that it was working through the final paperwork necessary to complete the listing.
Iraq's bourse is still tiny in comparison with other regional or international stock markets with a market capitalisation of around $3.6 billion. That could jump once the mobile operators are listed.
(Editing by Barry Malone and Helen Massy-Beresford)
((aseel.kami@thomsonreuters.com)(+964 7901 917 031)(Reuters Messaging: aseel.kami.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: IRAQ TELECOMS/ASIACELL
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