LONDON, 18 September 2005 — Investcom, the Middle Eastern and African telecoms group owned by Lebanon’s powerful Mikati family, said yesterday it planned to make its market debut this year on the fledgling Dubai stock exchange and in London.
The company, whose Chief Executive Azmi Mikati told Reuters in June he wanted to raise cash to fund expansion and acquisitions via a possible minority listing, confirmed a Reuters report that it hoped to lead the way by listing on Dubai’s new bourse.
“Investcom...today announced its intention to proceed with an initial public offering, subject to market conditions, in 2005, of global depositary receipts (GDRs) on the London Stock Exchange,” it stated. “Investcom is also looking forward to being one of the first companies to list its ordinary shares on the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX).”
One source familiar with the company told Reuters on Friday that the company was looking to raise around $750 million from a flotation that could value Investcom at up to $3.0 billion.
The source added that Investcom planned to list GDRs in London in early October and would begin selling the deal in road shows during late September and early October. The new DIFX, meanwhile, has been trumpeted by local officials as a project that will transform the Gulf emirate into another New York or London when it opens for business on Sept. 26, with investors scrambling to cash in on the oil boom in Gulf Arabia states.
Investcom has 3.3 million mobile phone subscribers across eight networks in countries such as Benin, Cyprus, Guinea-Bissau, Ghana, Liberia, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen, as well as a wholesale carrier business in Monaco.
The company, which also owns a mobile phone license in Guinea and Afghanistan, took the opportunity to unveil a 56 percent rise in half-year EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) to $186.5 million on 44 percent higher gross operating revenues of about $358.5 million.
Net profit in the half year to end-June jumped to $90.1 million from $73.7 million in the same period of 2004, boosted by an exceptional $7.0 million gain from disposals. The company, which employs about 3,500 staff across its businesses, sells predominantly pre-paid mobile phone SIM cards via local suppliers.
Average revenues per user (ARPUs), a key profitability measure in the industry, range from roughly $12 per month in Benin to about 40 pounds ($72.32) in Cyprus.