Orange, France Telecommunication Company plans to list its Middle East and Africa business verticals. It has chosen BNP Paribas and Morgan Stanley to advise it on the proposed initial public offering (IPO).
Although an underwriting syndicate has not been formalized, both banks are helping Orange to prepare for the listing. The company plans to invite more banks to join the deal before listing its shares.
Orange is dominantly used in Francophone African countries, including Senegal, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Cameroon, and Mali. It is present in about 20 countries with over 125 million customers across Africa and the Middle East. Orange recently inaugurated the Middle East and Africa headquarters at the Casablanca Finance City Tower in Morocco.
See Also: Orange Telecom Sell Off Niger Business to Zamani
Sales from Orange’s Middle East and Africa business rose 5.1% to €5.2 billion in 2018, with an annual growth rate of 6% per annum. The company intends to use this IPO to tap into a wider investor base and raise capital for expansion.
The deal is poised to be one of the biggest listings of the Middle East and Africa in 2020. Orange is considering to list on either London or Paris stock markets by the second half of the year. In a statement, Orange said that it is putting all its Middle East and Africa activities into a separate entity.
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