Saudi Telecom says no agreement reached on Vodafone Egypt stake

Saudi Arabia’s largest telecoms operator, Saudi Telecom Company (STC) said on Sunday no deal has been reached to buy a 55 percent stake in Vodafone Egypt, and that the parties have agreed to keep dialogue open.

Vodafone “remains in discussions with Saudi Telecom to finalize the transaction in the near future,” and “now looks to Saudi Telecom and Telecom Egypt to find a suitable agreement to enable the transaction to close,” the U.K.-based mobile carrier said according to Bloomberg.

Saudi Telecom said in a separate statement that its non-binding MoU to acquire the stake expired without a deal. Saudi Telecom and Vodafone will continue talks, it said.

Saudi Telecom had been looking to reduce its offer for the stake in Vodafone Egypt, Bloomberg added.

In January, STC signed a non-binding deal to buy the stake for $2.4 billion, extending the offer in April and again in July.

Originally expected to close in June, the deal would have been STC’s biggest in over a decade and valued Vodafone Egypt at$4.4 billion.

STC ended the second extension without reaching a deal conclude the transaction due to misalignment with relevant parties, it said in a stock exchange filing.