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Qatar Telecom: Differences over Asiacell
liquidation
16.5.2007 |
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May 16, 2007
Dubai, -- Qatar Telecommunications Co (Qtel)
said it could not agree with co-owners in Asiacell
about appointing a liquidator to sell off the Iraqi
company’s assets after its licence expired last
year.
Through its control of Kuwait-based National Mobile
Telecommunications Company (Wataniya), Qtel owns 40
per cent of Iraq’s first mobile phone service.
Asiacell operated in Iraq’s Kurdistan region from
1999.
“There is an argument over appointing a liquidator,”
a Qtel official said on a conference call with
analysts yesterday. |
Asiacell operated in Iraq’s Kurdistan region from
1999. |
“We are optimistic we can resolve the issue but the
situation is not clear to us.” Qtel asked that the
official not be identified.
Asiacell Company for Telecommunication owns 51 per
cent of Asiacell and United Gulf Bank nine per cent.
“Should there not be a successful resolution, we
believe we will be covered by the warranty,” the
official said.
Asiacell’s biggest shareholder has asked a court in
the Cayman Islands, where the company is
incorporated, to shut down the telecom operator.
Asiacell, incorporated in the Cayman Islands,
contributed 49.7m dinars ($171.8m) to Wataniya’s net
profit in 2006, according to the Kuwaiti operator’s
Web site. Wataniya made a net profit of 73.2m last
year.
Qtel said last month Kuwait Projects Company, from
which it bought its 51 per cent stake in Wataniya,
would reimburse any compensation it was ordered to
pay in the legal dispute.
“When we bought Wataniya, the valuation for Asiacell
was zero because we were aware that there were
problems,” Qtel spokesman Adel al-Mutawa said last
month.
“Any benefit we get from Asiacell would be a bonus.
If the court asks us to pay anything we don’t have
to pay. In case anything goes wrong it would trigger
a warranty clause in the contract that Kipco would
have to pay compensation,” he said.
Reuters
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