Omantel said on Tuesday its board of directors has received a non-binding offer from a Pakistani investor to acquire the company's shares in WorldCall Telecom Ltd (WTL).
Omantel holds a 56.8 per cent stake in the loss-making Pakistani subsidiary. The company, however, did not disclose the name of the investor.
“The offer is subject to due diligence study. We will apprise investors of any further progress in this matter in due course,” Omantel said in a filing with the Muscat Securities Market.
In a filing to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday, WTL said Allied Supplies and Services (Pvt) Ltd and Dunya Technologies Ltd have expressed the intention to acquire 56.8 per cent of ordinary shares and 100 per cent of convertible preference shares, respectively.
WTL said it received a letter from Arif Habib Ltd, which is managing the offer on behalf of Allied Supplies and Dunya Technologies.
According to WTL, Allied Supplies intends to acquire 488,839,429 ordinary voting shares of WTL (representing 56.8 per cent of total ordinary shares) from Omantel through the agreement. Dunya Technologies intends to acquire 350,000 convertible preference shares, representing 100 per cent of the convertible preference shares issued by WTL.
The Omantel stock rose 0.62 per cent on Tuesday on the MSM even as the benchmark index closed in the red.
WTL provides wireless in local loop, long distance international services, payphones and cable television services. WTL launched its business in June 1996. It became an Omantel subsidiary in 2008.
Omantel impaired its investment in WTL in 2015. In May, Omantel said its management is working with the WTL management on various strategic options.
WTL had incurred a net loss of RO22.5mn in 2015 against a net loss of RO14mn in 2014. Omantel's share in WTL's net loss was RO12.8mn in 2015, according to the Omani telco’s 2015 financial statement.
Total revenue of WTL fell by 19.3 per cent to RO7.2mn in 2015 over 2014, while its operating expenses rose by 15 per cent to RO20.5mn from RO17.8mn, according to Omantel financials.
