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France Telecom, Agility to acquire stake in Iraq’s Korek
France Telecom agreed with Kuwaiti logistics group Agility to acquire a 44 percent stake in Iraqi mobile operator Korek Telecom, as part of the French group’s strategy to expand its presence in emerging markets. The two groups will form a joint venture with Agility to take 54 percent of the stake. France Telecom will pay $245 million for a 20 percent indirect stake in Korek and will extend a $185 million loan to the company. Moreover, it will have an option to increase its indirect stake in Korek to 27 percent in 2014. Agility will contribute its existing convertible debt and inject $50 million in exchange for a 24 percent indirect stake in Korek Telecom. The company will also provide a $100 million four-year shareholder loan to the Iraqi operator to decrease its debt, pay for its license and improve networks and service.
Abu Dhabi’s Guggenheim
Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) received on March 20 bids from contractors for the construction of its Guggenheim Abu Dhabi museum. The project is expected to cost more than $800 million and to be completed by 2013. The new Guggenheim will be bigger than the ones in New York, Venice, Bilbao, Berlin and Las Vegas. The museum, designed by US architect Frank Gehry, will be built on Saadiyat Island, just 500 meters off the coast of Abu Dhabi, and will cover a total area of 30,000 square meters. Saadiyat Island, a $27 billion art and culture project, includes the $500 million Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum designed by Jean Nouvel, the Sheikh Zayed National Museum, luxury resorts, golf clubs and private villas.
GCC insurance growth
Across the region, insurance premiums should double to more than $27 billion over the next five years, according to Qatar’s Finance Minister Yousuf Hussein. The minister, who was addressing an audience at “MultaQa Qatar 2011,” a conference dedicated to the insurance and reinsurance industries, added that the average growth rate in the region’s insurance sector stood at 28 percent between 2005 and 2010. The penetration rate of insurance premiums nevertheless remained relatively low at 1.9 percent, compared to a global average of 7 percent. This shows that the sector has high growth potential, added Minister Hussein, projecting Qatar’s gross domestic product growth to exceed 18 percent if oil prices average above $70 to $75 this year.
