Etisalat said yesterday it had submitted a binding offer on September 4 to buy the mobile-phone assets of Millicom International Cellular in Sri Lanka as the largest UAE telco seeks to expand abroad.
The Abu Dhabi-based firm bid for 100 per cent of Mil-licom's Sri Lankan assets, it said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi bourse.
Etisalat didn't reveal the amount of the bid and company officials said they wouldn't disclose the value of the offer.
Last month, India's Econ-omic Times estimated that the Sri Lankan mobile network operator was worth between $150 million and $200 million.
The offer for Millicom's Sri Lankan operations follows Etisalat's failed bid for a stake in Morocco's Meditel and underlines the firm's determination to expand into emerging markets beyond the Gulf region, an analyst said.
"Etisalat is in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is about to launch in India so this deal would make sense and would be an extension of its footprint, but we need more details on the bid and... other players involved," said Simon Simonian, a telecoms analyst at Shuaa Capital.
Simonian said emerging markets such as Sri Lanka offer low penetration and high growth potential, but are more difficult to operate in than developed markets such as Europe.
"Etisalat has developed expertise in building networks and running operations in emerging markets," said Simonian.
Etisalat has also made a bid for a Libyan licence. In Nov-ember, Etisalat said it had more than $3 billion in cash to fund purchases this year.
The news weighed on Etis-alat shares at start of the day, but they finished down 0.43 per cent to dhs11.75, after equalling a ten-month closing high on Thursday.
© 7Days 2009
