France Telecom and Orascom Telecom have reached a settlement – brokered by the Egyptian government – to end their year-long public dispute over the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (ECMS, better known as Mobinil), in which they are joint shareholders.  According to a joint statement, the two groups agreed to renew their partnership and draw up a “revised shareholder agreement, but with no change to the existing ownership structure or their shareholders’ voting rights.” France Telecom and Orascom said their agreement would “effectively bring to an end all disputes in relation to their joint investment in Mobinil.”

France Telecom and Orascom control the mobile operator ECMS via Mobinil. The French group owns 71.25 percent of Mobinil and Orascom owns 28.75 percent. Mobinil owns 51 percent of ECMS. The Financial Times (FT) notes that the truce avoids a protracted legal battle for control of Mobinil which risked undermining the performance of the company and discrediting both its owners. The FT also notes that the attempt to call a fresh start in France Telecom’s troubled partnership with Orascom is the first major international decision taken by Stephane Richard, who took over as the chief executive of the former French monopoly – and the world’s eleventh-largest mobile operator group – last month.