DOHA: On the occasion of the visit of President of the Republic of Kazakhstan HE Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and as part of a series of contracts signed between Qatari companies and various Kazakh entities, Power International Holding Company on Wednesday signed an agreement of principles to acquire Mobile Telecom Services (MTS) in Kazakhstan, owned by Kazakhtelecom (National Telecommunications Company).
Kazakhtelecom, Kazakhstan's largest telecommunications operator, intends to sell one of its mobile assets, Mobile Telecom–Service LLP (Tele2/Altel brands) to the leading conglomerate of the Middle East, Qatar Power International Holding. The relevant tripartite agreement on principles (Samruk-Kazyna JSC) was signed by the parties during the official visit of the president of Kazakhstan.
Recall that talks about the sale of one of the operators belonging to the Kazakhtelecom Group of Companies have been going on in Kazakhstan for quite a long time, however, a specific decision on this issue has not yet been announced. However, on January 20 of this year, at a meeting of the State Commission on Economic Modernization, it was decided to sell Mobile Telecom-Service LLP and today in Qatar Kazakhtelecom, Samruk-Kazyna and Power International Holding, within the framework of the signed agreement, agreed on the main terms for the purchase of a 100 percent stake in MT-S LLP.
"We have only recently entered into negotiations and, of course, today's agreement only fixes our intention to make a deal with Power International Holding and in the future it will be necessary to discuss and consolidate all the terms and procedures of purchase and sale, so it is too early to talk about specific numbers, the amount of the transaction, etc. We are satisfied that such a reputable and stable company as PIH acts as a strategic investor, besides, it is very well known in Kazakhstan, the holding has many projects in our country and all of them are quite successful," said Kuanyshbek Yessekeyev, Chairman of the Board of Kazakhtelecom JSC.
Important to note that Power International Holding is a Qatari conglomerate covering various sectors of the economy. The company employs about 65,000 employees and has implemented about 1,100 different projects worldwide.
On this occasion, Mohammed Moutaz Al-Khayyat, Chairman of Power International Holding, expressed his pleasure to sign this acquisition agreement and expand PIH‘s business in Kazakhstan due to its promising investment opportunities and advanced business environment.
In line with Power International Holding's strategic expansion goals, CEO Ramez Al-Khayyat highlighted the acquisition's role in broadening the company's technology offerings. He expressed the company's commitment to advancing the tech sector in Kazakhstan through the deployment of innovative communication technologies. PIH will unleash its power in the use of advanced data analytics on customer behaviour, network infrastructure performance, digital payments and market trends to introduce new digital products & services in the market with the ultimate objective of bringing joy and satisfaction to the people of Kazakhstan.
In 2019 Kazakhtelecom became the owner of a 100 percent stake in MT-S. Today it is the largest mobile operator in Kazakhstan, with almost 7 million people using telecom and digital services. The company is one of the participants in the consortium, which is implementing a project in our country to deploy the fifth–generation communication standard. Last year alone, about 800 5G base stations were built in almost 20 cities of the republic, and the total number of base stations is over 7,000.
