Orascom CEO quits Hutchison board

NEW DELHI: Orascom Telecom CEO Naguib Sawiris stepped down as director of Hutchison Telecom International Ltd (HTIL) on Monday. Although his resignation triggered speculation that Egypt-based Orascom was likely to sell its stake in HTIL, Sawiris denied the possibility.

Asked why he had stepped down as HTIL director, Sawiris told DNA Money, “the company is less interesting without India.” But, he refused to comment on why Orascom would like to hold on to its equity in HTIL, if it was “less interesting” without India.

Besides India, HTIL operates in Hong Kong, Macau, Israel, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Indonesia and Vietnam. India, with over 156 mobile customers and an average growth rate of over 6 million customers per month, is considered a hot telecom market.

Sawiris was an HTIL director since December 2005, when Orascom bought a stake in the Hong Kong firm.

Orascom currently holds 19.3% in HTIL, which gave it an indirect holding of about 10% in Hutch Essar, the fourth largest mobile operator in India. Orascom’s indirect holding in Hutch Essar had raised security concerns, as Orascom has significant operations in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

However, in February, HTIL decided to sell its entire stake in Hutch Essar to Vodafone for $11.1 billion. Following this, Sawiris finds HTIL “less interesting.”

Michael John O’Connor, Orascom’s investment and business development officer, will replace Sawiris as a non-executive director, HTIL said in a statement on Monday, but gave no reason.

It is believed that Orascom may like to sell its stake in HTIL to fund an acquisition in Brazil.

The HTIL statement said, “Sawiris has no disagreement with the board and he is not aware of any matter relating to his resignation that needs to be brought to the attention of the shareholders of the company.”