Egyptian court postpones Orascom appeal hearing

Egyptian telco Orascom awaits a court decision overturning approval of France Telecom’s Mobinil offer.

The Egyptian court has set 27 March as the ruling date for Orascom Telecom’s appeal to overturn approval of a France Telecom offer for the outstanding shares of Mobinil, according to Bikya Masr..

“The hearing is postponed to March 27 to decide on the date of the verdict”, said Hamdy Yassin, the ruling judge at a Cairo administrative court.

France Telecom and Orascom Telecom are Mobinil’s two largest shareholders. The companies are currently in the midst of a long dispute regarding their stakes in the mobile operator.

A ruling had been expected on Saturday, but the fight for France Telecom’s bid to take full control of Mobinil continues.

The court had already postponed the verdict in February to Saturday, but postponed the final verdict once more, much to the consternation of France Telecom, which said they are looking forward to ending this nearly one-year long court battle.

In February, lawyers presented their arguments to the court, only one month after the same court issued a ruling that ended France Telecom’s bid for outstanding shares in the Egyptian giant, but the ruling has not deterred the French company from pushing forward in its attempt to buy the shares.

In August, an appeal from the French telecom giant ended with Egypt’s financial regulator delivering a resounding “no” to its attempts to purchase the remaining shares of Mobinil, but it didn’t stop FT from continuing its push for the deal.