Altimo fails to secure majority stake in Egypt's Orascom

Russia’s Altimo failed to secure a majority stake in Egypt-based Orascom Telecom by a Monday deadline and said it was ready to take a smaller interest in the company if Egypt’s financial market regulator allows.

Shareholders holding 15.9 percent of Orascom Telecom (OTH) stock listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange offered to sell, below the minimum 26.6 percent required for the buyout.

Altimo, the telecoms arm of Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa Group, already has an indirect interest in OTH through telecoms group Vimpelcom, in which it is the biggest shareholder. Vimpelcom owns 51.9 percent of OTH.

Altimo launched an offer in April to buy out minority shareholders of the Egypt-based company, which has mobile businesses in Canada, Algeria, Pakistan and other emerging markets such as Bangladesh, in a deal worth an estimated $1.8 billion.

OTH management this month advised shareholders to reject the offer, saying the price of $0.70 per share was too low.