Orascom Telecom’s appeal against France Telecom’s takeover of Egyptian mobile firm ECMS (MobiNil) has been successfully upheld, reports the Financial Times today. In a preliminary ruling, a Cairo court ruled that the French group’s EUR1.5 billion purchase of the shares it does not already own in the operator was too low and has placed an injunction on the sale. A full decision is expected to follow next month. “We are in our country, staying in it. We are not leaving,” said Orascom chairman Naguib Sawiris after the hearing. France Telecom – owner of the Orange mobile brand – said it would await the full court ruling (due on 13 February) before deciding whether to appeal. The Egyptian regulator – which last month approved France Telecom’s offer to acquire Orascom’s direct shareholding in ECMS – could also appeal the ruling, the report says.

The two firms have been at loggerheads over ownership of ECMS – Egypt’s largest mobile operator – for several years now. France Telecom already owned 71.25 percent of the holding company (also known as MobiNil) that controls 51 percent of ECMS, and was ordered by an arbitration court earlier last year to buy-out Orascom’s 28.75 percent share in the holding company at a set price of EGP273.26 per share. But the dispute centres on what happens to the remaining 49 percent shareholding, which includes the separate 20 percent Orascom holding and a 29 percent free float. France Telecom had argued that its purchase of the minority ECMS shareholders was not covered by the arbitration court ruling, which justifies offering a lower price for the outstanding shares, but this continues to be disputed by Orascom. France Telecom’s current bid puts the total cost to the French group of taking full ownership of ECMS and the MobiNil holding company at EUR2.1 billion.