Jordan Telecom will launch an Initial Public Offering (IPO) within two years, once the company's on-going plans to improve its services and restructure its operations are completed.
A government official confirmed yesterday an intention already announced by Jordan Telecom CEO Pierre Mattei last week, saying the IPO will have to wait until the company “has become as attractive as possible.”
“The idea is to allow the public to benefit from Jordan Telecom's success, but that success has first to be consolidated,” he said, preferring not to be named. The source declined to reveal for exactly when the IPO has been planned and said it was too early to give any further information.
At a press conference last week, Mattei said both the government, which owns 60 percent of the company, and France Telecom, which owns a 40 percent stake together with the Arab Bank—whose share is 4.8 percent—intended to launch an IPO within the next two years.
“It will take us one more year to improve our network, operations, and services such as 121 (phone directory) and 139 (customer service line),” Mattei told journalists. “Afterwards, we will start working on an IPO.”
Jordan Telecom, which enjoys exclusivity in fixed telephony services until 2004, gained a foothold in the mobile market last September, when it launched its first subsidiary, MobileCom.
It is currently finalizing a deal for the total acquisition of Global One, Jordan's leading Internet Service Provider. With the $12.8 million deal, expected to be signed by the end of the month, Jordan Telecom would become an ISP itself. — ( Jordan Times )
By Francesca Sawalha
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
