Bahrain Telecommunications (Batelco) is looking for acquisition opportunities in North Africa and the Middle East of up to $2 billion, the company's chief executive said on Sunday.
"The targeted opportunities range up to $2 billion dollars but should Batelco be successful in acquiring such a company, a combination of debt and equity will be funding the acquisition," Chief Executive Peter Kaliaropoulos said in a statement.
He said the company was looking in North Africa and the Middle East but had no particular targets yet. "It is far too early to announce any specific targets and the funding arrangements will be detailed at the time of the acquisition," he said.
Batelco is looking to grow abroad to offset increasing competition in its home market and had submitted a bid for a stake in Morocco's Meditel telecoms firm, which Portugal Telecom and Spain's Telefonica sold to Moroccan investors last week.
Meditel, the country's second-largest operator, said after the sale it was still open to selling a stake to a foreign operator. Kaliaropoulos told Reuters in March that the company could spend up to $2 billion for an acquisition in Africa this year, after it bought a 49 percent stake in Indian mobile phone operator S Tel Ltd for $225 million in January.
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