DUBAI: Emirates Telecommuni-cations Corp. (Etisalat) said on Saturday it has bought Tigo Sri Lanka, a unit of Millicom International Cellular, for $207 million amid growth opportunities in the Southeast Asian country.
Tigo Sri Lanka, the second-largest mobile phone operator in Sri Lanka, has a market share of 21 percent. By September 2009, it had 2.25 million subscribers, Etisalat said.
“Both Sri Lanka as a country and Tigo Sri Lanka as a company provide opportunities for further growth,” Etisalat said. “The acquisition promises attractive returns as the Sri Lankan government is increasing its effort to promote foreign investment in all sectors,” Omran said. “It also offers great opportunities for synergy with our other operations in the region, particularly in the UAE., Saudi Arabia and India.” Standard Chartered Bank acted as financial adviser to Etisalat for the acquisition.
Etisalat already has existing investments in Asia including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia and India, markets which are among the world’s fastest growing in the telecommunications sector.
