France Telecom buys 40% of Morocco’s Meditel

Rebecca Hawkes

France Telecom has acquired 40% of Morocco’s second mobile operator, Medi Telecom (Meditel) in a deal worth Euro 640 million as part of its strategy to boost income from fast growing emerging markets.

The move will see France Telecom increase its stake in Meditel to 45% in 2011 and 49% in 2015 and now puts France Telecom, through Meditel, in direct competition in Morocco with Maroc Telecom, majority owned by French media giant Vivendi.

The smaller of the two operators, Meditel currently has 10 million mobile subscribers and a 37% market share.

“The acquisition of this stake in Medi Telecom is the first concrete step in our new policy of expansion outside Europe, and contributes to our stated aim of doubling our revenue in Africa and the Middle East over the next five years,” said Stephane Richard, CEO of France Telecom.

Richard has previously gone on record saying that his company are eyeing four or five acquisitions in the region.