Mali is seeking to sell a portion of its holding in Maroc Telecom’s local unit Sotelma in an initial public offering, even as the parent remains reluctant to do a listing, Bloomberg reported citing Finance and Economy Minister Boubou Cisse. The minister said Mali wants to sell a little less than half its 39 percent stake in Sotelma and list the shares on West Africa’s regional exchange in Ivory Coast. Cisse said the proceeds will be used for capital investments and would provide cheaper finance than bank loans.
Mali wants to finalize the share sale by April, but the process may be delayed if Maroc Telecom remains “resistant” to such a step, Cisse said. Maroc Telecom has a 51 percent holding in Sotelma. According to the minister, listing on the stock market goes with transparency requirements, which means that the company’s financial statements will be public.
He said Maroc Telecom is a bit uneasy about it because its main competitor does not have the same obligations, but added that the government is committed to go ahead. Cisse was referring to Orange operations in Africa. While Orange Mali is a unit of Abidjan-listed Sonatel, the group does not publish profit numbers for its individual subsidiaries. It does publish subscriber numbers and revenue figures for every unit and combined profit data.
There was no immediate comment from Maroc Telecom and Sotelma. Plans for the listing of Sotelma come almost six years after preparations for an initial share sale were scuttled by a military coup in the West African nation.
