Gulf -telecommunications are on their way to Europe to hedge some of the emerging market fluctuations

The commission of Gulf telecommunications to meet European markets through mergers and acquisition agreements that were after diversification of their sources of income and reduced the risks caused by the emerging markets in which they worked, according to a report issued by S&B Global. The report indicated that telecommunications companies in the Gulf collaboration council countries slowly grow in their income from local markets, due to the saturation of the markets, as the rate of deployment of cell phones exceeded the population of 100%, which led them to search for new opportunities in European markets and stable growth. The International Classification Agency explained that while the growth of the telecommunications market in Europe is expected to be an average of 2%, on average the low capital expenditure required in these markets can contribute to increasing the cash flow of wave operators. The agency attributed this trend of the Gulf businesses to another reason, namely to target the risk of emerging markets in which they work, as the increase in the activities of the wave companies in Europe would provide a hedging of their governor’s fluctuation of currencies in other markets, such as the markets of Egypt, Pakistan and most of the sub -Saharan countries. Large offers that have seen the recent months of the most important transactions that have implemented wave companies in Europe, the most prominent of which were the vague acquisition of a majority in a majority in (PPF Telecom Group), which has assets in Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia and Slovakia, with 50% plus 2.36 billion euros. The Emirati company also increased its share in the British Vodafone group to 15%, making it the largest individual contributor to the company, in addition to signing an agreement to acquire 100% of the “Teleenor Pakistan” at a value of 1.4 billion dirhams waiting for organizational approval. In Saudi Arabia, Saudi Telecom Company (STC) acquired a 4.9% stake in the Spanish “telephone group” to acquire the Spanish government’s approval to increase its share to 9.97%, in addition to the right to appoint a member of the board. Nevertheless, the report made clear that investments in the wave in the telecommunications sector in Europe are facing strict regulatory control, as officials have expressed caution to approve some investments, especially with regard to strategic infrastructure. For example, the Spanish authorities have set conditions for investing (STC) in “telephone” to ensure the independence of their activities and to protect national interests. The report confirmed that these investments did not significantly affect the credit ratings of wave companies as they still depend on local and regional markets as the most important cash flow. However, the major acquisitions such as the (e &) transaction on (PPF Telecom) can lead to an improvement in income and profits with a rate of 15% to 20% from 2025. As far as the targeted companies are concerned, the report indicated that their credit rating had not yet improved, due to the lack of full operational control or explicit financial guarantees. The only exception was the acquisition (E &) on (PPF Telecom), where the European Company’s credit rating was increased from (+BB) to (BBB). In addition to the international expansion in technology, Gulf Telecom businesses are on their way to investment in data centers to improve cloud computing services and artificial intelligence, as STC and Orido announced plans in the next few years to invest one billion dollars each in this area. The Saudi Market also saw a strategic step in December last year by selling its 51% stake in ‘Tawal’, its constellation, its affiliate company, to the Saudi public investment fund, so that the fund will transfer this share, in addition to its share in the “Golden Latis Investment” after a new entity of the Kingus. towers to unite towers in the kingdom. The report expects the expansion of wave telecommunications businesses in Europe to continue in light of the presence of strong financial liquidity and clear strategies for expansion. S&B is of the opinion that these extensions will contribute to improving the position of Gulf telecommunications businesses on the international scene, while continuing to focus on local markets as an important than gaining profits.