Pakistan signs PTCL transfer deal with Etisalat

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan signed a formal agreement on Sunday for its biggest privatisation to date, handing over management control of its state-controlled telecoms company to Middle East-based buyer Etisalat. A signing ceremony marking the transfer of a 26 percent stake in Pakistan Telecommunication Co. Ltd (PTCL) , worth $2.6 billion, to Dubai-based Emirates Telecommunications (Etisalat) was held at the Prime Minister's house in Islamabad. The ceremony was attended by officials of PTCL and Etisalat and presided over by Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. The two sides agreed last December to a deal under which Etisalat , a UAE monopoly, would pay $1.4 billion up front for the stake and the rest spread over five years. An earlier deal agreed in June ran into trouble after the UAE firm failed to meet payment deadlines. Aziz said he was delighted that the deal had been completed and called it a historic day for the government's reform programme and for relations between Pakistan and UAE.
"Today's transaction signifies a quantum leap in the economic relationship between the two countries," he said. "Now it is up to the management of Etisalat to develop the PTCL franchise, to use Pakistan as a outsourcing venue so people here can help improve the possibilities of Etisalat globally, not just in Pakistan."
Referring to the difficulties the deal faced last year, he said: "The end result is good for PTCL, it's good for Etisalat, it's good for shareholders of both companies and good for the people of Pakistan and the UAE."