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Egypt index jumps 2 pct as investors eye Mobinil

Mon May 18, 2009 9:16am EDT

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CAIRO, May 18 (Reuters) - Egypt's benchmark stock index .EGX30 gained 2.2 percent on Monday as investors bought telecom firms on talk that a row between shareholders in Mobinil (EMOB.CA) could be resolved soon, traders said.

"There is a lot of speculation in the market that something is going to happen regarding the France Telecom, OT deal, which drove all the telecom stocks up," said Karim Hosny from Pharos Securities, adding that local and foreign investors were buying.

Orascom Telecom (OT) (ORTE.CA)(ORTEq.L) and France Telecom (FTE.PA) have been locked in a dispute over their joint holding in Mobinil (EMOB.CA) since going to court in 2007.

OT could not immediately be reached for comment.

Egypt's market regulator says France Telecom should tender to buy all shares in Mobinil as part of a court ruling that it purchase Orascom's stake in the holding company's 51 percent Mobinil stake.

OT also owns a 20 percent direct stake in Mobinil.

Mobinil (EMOB.CA) shares jumped 6.7 percent to 204.97 Egyptian pounds ($36.48), while OT shares ended almost 4 percent higher at 36.34 pounds. Landline monopoly Telecom Egypt (ETEL.CA) also added 1.9 percent to end at 17.89 pounds. ($1 = 5.6192 Egyptian pounds) (Writing by Alastair Sharp)



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