Emirati businessman buys 4% of Sudatel’s scrips

By Salah Eldin El Tayeb , Khaleej Times

ABU DHABI, Feb 05, 2004 — UAE national businessman, Talal Al Khouri, created shock waves in the Khartoum stock market over the weekend following the deal he made to buy four per cent of the total Sudatel’s ( Sudan Telecommunication) scrips disinvested by a British company last week.

Brokers and officials at the Khartoum stock market are expecting that the Sudatel scrip prices would quadruple as a British company sold its four per cent equity (Dh52 million) in the company to a UAE national investor.

“The market’s brokers and official were kept busy to finalise the deal which is considered to be one of the biggest in the bourses operating in the region,” said Zain Al Abdeen, Director-General, Khartoum Bourse.

The market was not prepared for such large deal, which was not expected to be, completed that smooth.

“We were aware that the British company which owns a round four per cent of the Sudatel total equity intend to disinvest its shares for a strategic buyer who would buy the total share at a go, but we were sceptical about the intention as the company was making handsome revenues over the last few year,” added Abdeen.

“The British company was a strategic partner with Sudatel right from day one and they have invested heavily knowing that the company is growing bigger and making huge profits of more than 37 per cent over the share.”

He pointed out that, many of the Sudanese local buyers would have been interested to earn the deal, but we are still pleased that a UAE investor have joined the company with an intention to help it grow and also make a reasonable profit.

Khartoum-based Al Ruwad Securities, owned by the former Sudanese Minister of Finance and Economy, Dr Abdul Raheem Hamdi completed the deal following marathon negotiations.