It emerged Friday that Digicel mobile group is now a part of a consortium proposing to pay $270 million (€204 million) for a majority stake in LAP GreenN, a mobile network owned by a Libyan state investment fund that was established in Africa in 2006.
A report in The Irish Times indicated Saturday, that Centamon, a company controlled by British consultancy Levant Group, and Demco, a Greek investment company, has bought a 65 per cent in LAP GreenN and asked Digicel to run the business. It is not clear what size of equity participation Digicel would have in the business.
The deal is subject to approval from the UN Security Council and the European Union.
A report on Friday in The Times newspaper in London cited documents that suggested the Al Qathafi regime. It did not say who signed on behalf of the Libyan side, but added that the deal had been given the green light by Libya's National Transitional Council, NTC, and would proceed.
LAP GreenN was incorporated in February 2007 to invest in communications and technology. It started with a licence in Uganda and has since spread its operations into Rwanda, Niger, Ivory Coast, southern Sudan, Zambia, Togo, Sierra Leone and Chad.
It previously had a stake in Telekom Serbia but sold the holding this year.
LAP GreenN is part of the Libya-Africa Investment Portfolio, which was set up by Al Qathafi in 2006 to focus on contributing to the development of African countries. A state-owned vehicle, it started with initial capital of $5 billion.
(Source: Tripoli Post)
