Batelco
Bahraini Shareholding Company (B.S.C) | |
Traded as | BHSE: BATELCO |
Industry | Telecommunications |
Founded | 1981 |
Headquarters | Hamala, Bahrain |
Area served
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Middle East, North Africa, Europe, Indian Ocean & South America |
Key people
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Services | Integrated Communications |
Revenue | $983.0 million (2013)[1] |
$115.6 million (2013)[1] | |
Subsidiaries | |
Website | batelcogroup.com |
Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco) (Arabic: بتلكو) is the principal telecommunications company in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The company is headquartered in Bahrain and is listed on the Bahrain Bourse. It provides services for mobiles through GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 2100 and LTE 1800 while its residential Internet is an ADSL service.
Contents
Ownership
Batelco was established in 1981 as a Bahraini Public Joint Stock Company and has an authorized share capital of BD200 million (US$531 million). Batelco's major shareholders include Government of Bahrain entities (Mumtalakat Holding Company, Amber Holding Company and Social Insurance Organisation), various financial and commercial organizations, and private Bahraini, Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC) and international investors.
Subsidiaries, affiliates and associates
The Batelco Group of Companies includes the following operations, subsidiaries and joint ventures:
- Batelco Bahrain, Bahrain (100% owned by BSC)
- Batelco Egypt, Egypt (100%)
- Sure, Channel Islands & Isle of Man (100%)South Atlantic & Diego Garcia (100%)
- Umniah, Jordan (96.0%)
- Dhiraagu, Maldives (52.0%)
- QualityNet, Kuwait (90.0%)
- Sabafon, Yemen (26.9%)
- Etihad Atheeb, Saudi Arabia (15.0%)
The Batelco Group has evolved to become a major communications company with direct and indirect investments across 14 geographies.
Employees
Batelco employs approximately 1,300 people in the Kingdom of Bahrain, of which over 90% are Bahraini nationals.
Mergers and acquisitions
- 1998: 44% of Qualitynet was acquired by Batelco in a public offering by Kuwait’s Ministry of Communication, as part of a strategy to privatise Internet and data communications services within the State of Kuwait.
- 2001: Batelco Jordan was formed following the merger of National Equipment Telecommunications Systems (NETS) and First Telecommunications Group (FTG) with Batelco.
- 2003: Batelco Egypt Communications (S.A.E.) was established as a wholly owned subsidiary of Batelco Middle East, in Cairo as an Egyptian Joint Stock Closed Company.
- 2006: Batelco purchases 96% share of Umniah Mobile Communications – Jordan.
- 2007: Batelco purchased a 20% stake in Yemen's SabaFon mobile communications company, for USD 144 million in cash.
- 2008: Consortiums led by Batelco, Hong Kong's PCCW and U.S. Verizon Communications won final approval to operate a new Saudi fixed-line phone network called Etihad Atheeb Telecom Company (ATHEEB). ATHEEB has since gone public in February 2009, offering 30 million shares at SAR 10 per share (US$2.67) representing 30% of its capital in an IPO; which was 2.5 times oversubscribed. The IPO raised US$80 million.
Batelco Group offers to purchase the remaining 20 percent shares not already held by the Group in Batelco Jordan, for a total consideration of JD2.126 million ($3m). Through its 96 percent-owned subsidiary Umniah Mobile Communications, Batelco made the offer to all Batelco Jordan shareholders, valuing the company at JD10.629 million.
- 2009: Batelco partnered with Millennium Private Equity to form Batelco Millennium India Company Limited (BMICL) to purchase 49% stake in Chennai based S Tel Limited, a recently established Indian mobile operator for US$225 million.
- 2012: Batelco announced its agreement for the sale of its shareholding (42.7% equity) in S Tel Private Limited (STel) to its Indian partner, Sky City Foundation Limited for BD 65.8M (US $174.5M).
- 2013: Batelco announced the acquisition of Cable & Wireless Communications' (CWC) interest in Dhiraagu (Maldives), Sure Channel Islands and Isle of Man and CWC operations in Falkland Islands, St Helena, Ascension and Diego Garcia (“SADG”). Total consideration paid for these assets was $570m.
- 2014: Batelco Group Completes Acquisition of 46% Shareholding in Quality Net.
See also
References
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Batelco. |