France Telecom Wins GT Bid

Few days after Singapore Telecom withdrew from the race to take over 51% stake in Ghana Telecom (GT), the Government of Ghana has selected Telecom France as the winner of the bidding process for GT.

France Telecom beat Vodacom and Portugal Telecom. The price is yet to be confirmed but sources close to the Ministry of Communication say it is between $500 million and $600 million

In all, twenty foreign investors expressed interest in Ghana Telecom when the Government of Ghana announced early this year that 51% of GT would be sold to a strategic investor in a bid to enhance efficiency and quality of service. The rest of the shares would then be floated on the Ghana stock exchange (GSE).

Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC) and Societe Generale are the transactional advisors for Ghana for the privatization.

Telecom France's revenue was up by 1.9% on a comparable basis to EUR25.9 billion (up 2.1% on an historical basis), reflecting a good second-quarter performance in the first half of 2007.