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UAE sovereign wealth fund hikes stake in du in Dh2.3 billion deal

Dubai - Nearly 10.22 per cent of du's issued share capital.

The UAE's sovereign wealth fund Emirates Investment Authority (EIA) has increased its stake in Dubai-based smaller telecom firm Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (du), according to a statement posted on the Dubai bourse.
The Fund acquired 463.263 million shares from Mamoura Diversified Global Holding PJSC (previously known as Mubadala Development Company) and General Investments FZE in a special deal.
This represents nearly 10.22 per cent of du's issued share capital. The companies, however, didn't provide details the value of the deal. But du's Thursday' closing price of Dh5.02 puts the value of the deal at Dh2.325 billion. The news boosted its shares on Monday morning as they were trading over one per cent higher at Dh5.08.
Du's profits for the first-quarter of 2019 fell 14.2 per cent to Dh444.8 million from Dh518.5 million for the same period last year.
The smaller telecom firm rolled out its superfast 5G mobile service on June 1, 2019 in collaboration with ZTE via the Axon Pro 10 handset. A select group of du customers who preregistered from May 8 will receive the devices for free, dispatched to them directly so they can begin enjoying 5G connectivity speeds up to 20 times faster than 4G provided.
According to SWF Institute, Emirates Investment Authority is 28th largest sovereign investment fund with assets estimated at $34 billion (Dh125 billion)
-waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com