Page 28 - SAMENA Trends - January-February 2023

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

e& Boosts Stake in Vodafone Group Once Again

Building on last month’s announcement it had boosted its stake in
Vodafone Group to 11%, UAE-based e& (formerly Etisalat Group)
has now confirmed the acquisition of additional shares in the
British telecoms giant to increase its holding to 12%. Although e&
stopped short of confirming exactly how much it had paid for its
new shares in Vodafone Group, it noted the transaction had been
‘executed at what we believe is an attractive valuation’, while adding
that its investment rational remained unchanged, that being:
‘to obtain significant exposure to a global leader, and leverage
potential commercial partnership and realize future return on our
investment’. Back in May 2022 the UAE-based group announced it
had acquired 2.766 billion shares in Vodafone Group, equivalent to
9.8% of its issued share capital. e& spent around USD4.4 billion on
acquiring that initial stake.

e& International Launches ‘e& Partner Networks’

e& international announced the launch of its new business program, customer engagement and value management, sales channels and
the ‘e& partner networks’, leveraging e&'s position as one of the customer experience, pricing and proposition support, Artificial
world's leading telecom providers to support telecom operating Intelligence and Machine Learning modelling, international carrier
companies in regional markets. Capitalizing on the Group's and wholesale channels, network procurement and overall Capex
continued growth in international markets, with over 162 million and Opex optimization and digital and mobile finance services,
subscribers in 16 countries, the program invites independent and many other opportunities. Each partner will be allocated the
telecoms operating companies from around the world to partner necessary resources and additional staff. Selected teams from
with e&. Partners will benefit from e&’s superior expertise across e& international will be seconded to the offices for future support
a range of business verticals, with a focus on adding measurable and close collaboration with the partner’s management team.
top and bottom-line meaningful business impact. Mikhail Gerchuk, e&'s partner networks will enable e& international to share e&'s
Chief Executive Officer of e& International, said: "The world has cutting edge expertise and apply e&’s best practices, tools and
opened up to opportunity again, allowing us to adopt a resilient models to a wider customer base in new geographic markets.
business growth mindset, create a future-ready operating model
and focus on value creation. Our strategic partnerships remain one
of our key priorities and, through the 'e& partner networks', we will be
able to strengthen these partnerships. “The scale of the opportunity
available to us through the ‘e& partner networks’ is enormous. With
e& international at the forefront of the new strategy, 'e& partner
networks' will be able to leverage the privilege of the e& brand and
benefit from a value-added engagement with telecoms-related
business objectives. “e& can support these independent partners
who currently may be facing challenges in terms of matching the
scale and expertise of their competitors, talent recruitment, and high
operating costs. Together, we can create a business proposition
for consistent growth with value-added benefits from operational
savings and uplifting topline revenue growth for our partners”.
Obaid Bokisha, Group Chief Operating Officer of e&, said: “As a
trusted industry leader with decades of experience, we understand
the importance of reliable and efficient networks for connecting
communities and driving economic growth. Through this program,
we are looking forward to working with telecom operators across
markets and empowering them with the resources and expertise
necessary to drive sustainable development and enhance
customer experiences.” The program will support operators in

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