Oger Telecom sees rivals circling Telkom
Oger Telecom, a Dubai-based operator that has made an informal offer for South Africa's largest telecoms operator Telkom, said on Thursday around three other parties were circling its target.
Oger Telecom CE Paul Doany told Reuters on the sidelines of a telecoms and emerging markets conference in London that he also would not be surprised to see MTN, sub-Sahara's largest mobile phone group, re-enter any process.
Doany declined to name any potential counter-bidders. He said only that he hoped partly state-owned Telkom, which has said there are no current negotiations with Oger, would discuss a deal.
"I wish there were talks," he said. "I hope there will be a process."
Oger Telecom, which is controlled by the family of late Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, already controls a majority stake in South Africa's third-largest mobile phone operator Cell C.
Doany said his interest in Telkom had been triggered by the South African company's talks about selling all or some of its fixed-line assets to mobile phone compatriot MTN.
He said a deal with Oger Telecom, which has experience in running a large fixed-line and small mobile operation in booming Turkey, made more sense. But he stressed he was "not some crazy bidder coming from the Middle East".
"If you overpay, there will be consequences," he told the conference.
Telkom's talks with MTN were aborted last November after a disagreement about value, scuppering parallel talks to sell part of Telkom's 50 percent stake in cell-phone joint venture Vodacom to British-based mobile partner Vodafone Group Plc.
Vodafone has said it remains keen to take control of Vodacom, South Africa's largest mobile phone company, which it could use as a springboard for further acquisitions across the fast-growing African continent.
