Jordan Telecom will launch an Initial Public Offering (IPO) within two years, once the company's on-going plans to improve its services and restructure its operations are completed, reported the Jordan Times newspaper Tuesday.
A government official confirmed an intention already announced by the company's CEO, Pierre Mattei, last week, saying the IPO will have to wait until the company "has become as attractive as possible."
"The idea is to allow the public to benefit from Jordan Telecom's success, but that success has first to be consolidated," he said.
Mattei told the newspaper last week that both the government, which owns 60 percent of the company, and France Telecom, which owns a 40 percent stake together with the Arab Bank (whose share is 4.8 percent), intended to launch an IPO within the next two years.
"It will take us one more year to improve our network, operations, and services such as 121 (phone directory) and 139 (customer service line)," Mattei told journalists.
Jordan Telecom, which enjoys exclusivity in fixed telephony services until 2004, gained a foothold in the mobile market last September, when it launched its first subsidiary, MobileCom.
It is currently finalizing a deal for the total acquisition of Global One, the leading Internet Service Provider (ISP), said the paper.
With the $12.8 million deal, expected to be signed by the end of the month, Jordan Telecom would become an ISP itself, said the paper -- Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
