Ivory Coast | BRVM Values Combined Cote d’Ivoire Telecom-Orange at $6 Billion

Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, Capital Markets in Africa: A combination of Ivory Coast’s landline operator Côte d’Ivoire Telecom and Orange SA’s local unit may be valued at $4 billion to $6 billion on the regional stock exchange, a deal that could increase the capitalization of Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres by as much as 40 percent.

Ivory Coast and Paris-based Orange have agreed to merge Côte d’Ivoire Telecom with Orange Côte d’Ivoire, the biggest mobile operator in the West African country by number of subscribers. The combination, scheduled to be completed next month, will leave the government with a 15 percent shareholding, which it could then decide to sell.

The BRVM’s valuation of the combined entity is based on Senegal telecom operator Sonatel’s $4.1 billion market cap as a peer comparison, Edoh Kossi Amenounve, general manager of the exchange, told reporters in New York late Tuesday. The listing may increase BRVM’s market value of about $12.5 billion between 20 and 40 percent, Amenounve said.

The BRVM has outperformed peers in Ghana and Nigeria, making it one of the few bourses on the continent to post a gain in the past year. The BRVM Composite Index climbed 18 percent in 2015, while Nigeria’s All Share Index dropped 17 percent and Ghana’s Composite Index declined 12 percent. The regional exchange is heavily weighted in banks, telecommunications and other companies that have few ties to oil, which fell to a 14-year low last month.