RPT-UPDATE 1-Portugal Telecom, Telefonica sell Meditel stakes
(Repeats with new Reuters story code)
* PT, Telefonica in joint agreement to sell stakes
* Deal seen closing by end-2009
(Adds comments from Telefonica)
LISBON, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Portugal Telecom (PTC.LS) agreed to sell its 32.2 percent stake in Morocco's No.2 telecoms firm Meditel for 400 million euros ($574.4 million) to a group of companies from the north African country.
Portugal Telecom said in a statement on Tuesday Spain's Telefonica (TEF.MC) also sold its 32.2 percent stake, in a joint agreement which the Spanish operator later confirmed.
The deal is expected to close by the end of 2009 once regulatory approval has been obtained, Telefonica said.
The buyers are Moroccan insurance company RMA Watanya, privately-owned group FinanceCom and Fipar Holding, a unit of CDG fund, which is the government's financing arm.
RMA Watanya and Finance.com are owned by Othman Benjelloun, who already had a 5 percent share in Meditel. (Reporting by Elisabete Tavares and Andrei Khalip; Additional reporting by Judy MacInnes; Editing by David Holmes) ($1=.6964 Euro)
