Egyptian telecommunications company Orascom Telecom Holding says it will ask shareholders to vote on its proposal to take formal control of carrier Wind Mobile following changes which have eased Canada’s foreign investment rules.
This past March Industry Minister Christian Paradis said Ottawa would lift restrictions on foreign investment in firms with less than 10% of market share by revenue.
Under the plan to be voted on next month, Wind would become Canada’s first fully foreign-owned carrier. The share-conversion plan would also enable Orascom to restructure a loan to Globalive and forgive roughly $450-million of interest charges.
Orascom currently owns 32.02% of Globalive’s outstanding voting shares and 65.08% of its total outstanding shares. If the proposal is approved, Orascom’s voting stake in Globalive would rise to 65.08%, the company said.
The change requires the approval of Canadian investment authorities, which the company expects to obtain by late 2012 or early 2013. As of September 2012, Wind Mobile has more than 500,000 subscribers, surpassing MTS Mobility as the fifth largest Canadian mobile operator.
