Omantel ends talks with potential buyer of its WorldCall stake

Oman Telecommunications (Omantel) said on Thursday it had ended discussions with a Pakistan investor interested in buying Omantel’s shares in Pakistan’s WorldCall Telecom Ltd.

Omantel took a 56.8 per cent stake in the diversified telecom operator in 2008. The $193m deal marked its biggest foreign investment at the time.

The statement did not name the potential acquirer or the value of the sale but said that a favourable deal could not be reached so the discussions had ended.

Omantel said in June its board received a non-binding offer for its controlling stake in WorldCall and that it had granted the potential investor approval to carry out due diligence.