The head of the Tunis stock exchange said on October 25 Tunisie Telecom plans a dual listing by the end of this year on the Tunis exchange and a European bourse.
"Tunisie Telecom will be listed before the end of the year. The listing will be on the Tunis bourse and a European bourse," Mohamed Bichiou, chief executive officer of the Tunis stock exchange, told Reuters without specifying which European exchange.
He said the Tunisian state would contribute 10 percent of the company's shares, while the other 10 percent would come from United Arab Emirates shareholders. The operator is majority owned by the state while Dubai's TECOM Investments and Dubai Investment Group jointly hold 35 percent.
Last month Tunisia sold a third-generation (3G) mobile telecoms license to Tunisie Telecom for about $80 million, putting it in competition with France Telecom's local unit.
Bichiou said four companies have already been listed on the Tunisian board this year and a new company will be listed "within 10 days". He said more companies will be listed in 2011. "We are working with the private sector to list some of the private companies. You can say we (have a plan) to list a company every 45 days," he said.