Sawiris-CI Capital undergoes exceptional examination by EFSA

Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding’s (OTMT) investment arm, Beltone of CI Capital’s acquisition deal, will undergo an exceptional examination, which is separate from the examination of Orascom’s acquisition of Beltone, chairperson of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) Sherif Samy said.

In response, OTMT said in a Saturday statement that the acquisition of Beltone was completed after getting approval from the EFSA, “which has not requested any additional information at the time of acquisition.”

The EFSA delayed the approval of CI Capital’s acquisition offer because OTMT committed a violation through its division process in 2012, therefore Beltone’s 2015 deal was supposed to be delayed for the same reason.

When the controlling shareholder of Beltone, Sawiris, was dividing Orascom Telecom to Orascom Telecom and Global Telecom in 2012, he provided the EFSA with a pledge proving that Wids Investment Company owns 51% of Orascom Telecom. However, the ownership was then transferred to another company, which violated the pledges provided to EFSA.

The EFSA did not discover this violation through the documents OTMT provided in order to obtain approval for the acquisition of Beltone, therefore the authority is working on a more accurate examination of the acquisition of CI Capital.