Egyptian telecom firm Orascom's CEO Naguib Sawiris has resigned from the board of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom, days before its shareholders are scheduled to consider the sale of its stake in Indian mobile venture Hutch-Essar to Vodafone.
While HTIL asserted Sawiris had no 'disagreement' with the board that could have fuelled his resignation, sources close to the development here said that it might be because of his reservations over the deal and the development could be a precursor to Orascom selling its 19.3 per cent stake in HTIL.
HTIL would seek shareholders' support for the deal on March 9 and Sawiris' resignation could play a dampener given Orascom's significant stake, the sources added.
"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," HTIL said in a statement.
However, Orascom itself had been interested in acquiring ontrol of Hutch-Essar and is believed to have expressed its unhappiness to Hutchison top brass over the deal.
Meanwhile, after losing out in race to buy Hutch-Essar in India, Orascom is now mulling an acquisition in another emerging market -- Brazil -- and plans to part-fund the transaction with the sale proceeds of its HTIL stake.
Orascom said in a statement it was interested in acquiring Telecom Italia's 38 per cent stake in Brazilian fixed and mobile operator Brasil Telecom.
"The interest in Brasil Telecom is in line with its declared strategy to watch out for investment opportunities in emerging countries," the company said.