The first listing of Maroc Telecom was postponed in Casablanca because of huge demand for its shares, a source in the stock market told MAP. Over 1.5 million shares of the Moroccan national telecom operator were in demand, but prices have not been determined due to the insufficiency of offer, said the same source.
Abdeslam Ahizoune, chairman of Maroc Telecom, has said the "unprecedented" demand from investors for shares in its initial public offering was a clear sign that the "best years were still to come" for Morocco's national telecom operator.
There were 21 times more offers from investors than shares available for the IPO, the banker said, stressing that demand was even higher in Europe and the US, where the 30 per cent of the offering allocated for investors was 50 times subscribed.
A total of 130,985,210 shares representing 14.9% of MT's capital owned by the Moroccan government, have been sold through Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) and Euronext. Demand reached a dazzling MD 192.2 billion whereas the total offer was a mere MD 8.9 billion. The final sale price of the stock has consequently been set to MD 68.25, the maximum of the initial bracket.
Maroc Telecom is controlled by Vivendi Universal, the French media and telecoms group, which last month agreed to acquire a 16 per cent stake from the government for €1.1bn, giving it 51 per cent.
