Vodafone Egypt sale talks terminated

Vodafone said on Monday that discussions with Saudi Telecom Company about the sale of its 55% shareholding in Vodafone Egypt have been terminated.

The company did not give any details as to why the talks had ended, but chief executive officer Nick Read said: "We believe that the Egyptian government is committed to an optimal framework for the telecoms sector, which will enable Vodafone Egypt to deliver on the country's vision of digitisation and financial inclusion and create a technology hub to support our growth in the African region."

Vodafone announced in January that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Telecom over the potential sale. It said at the time that they had agreed on a cash consideration of $2.39bn.