Omantel says going ahead with sale of controlling stake in WorldCall

WorldCall intends to buy back its shares from Omantel

Nov 16 Oman Telecommunications Co (Omantel) is going ahead with a plan to sell its controlling stake in Pakistan's WorldCall Telecom, the Omani operator's chief executive Talal al-Mamari told Reuters on Tuesday.



Omantel took a 56.8 percent stake in the diversified operator in 2008. The $193 million deal was its biggest foreign investment at the time.

The Omani firm "has accepted the offer we received to sell our shares in WorldCall. But the deal is still in the process of fulfilling different requirements," Mamari said without elaborating.



In September, WorldCall told the Pakistan Stock Exchange that it intends to buy back its shares from Omantel. It did not disclose a price; its share price last closed at 2.81 rupees in the Pakistani market, down from around 17 rupees in February 2008, when Omantel's acquisition was announced