Plans for a dual listing this year of state-controlled Tunisie Telecom were delayed to the first quarter of next year to allow time for the completion of procedures, sources said on Tuesday.

An official at the Tunis stock exchange and another source with knowledge of progress affecting the IPO plan said the listing was delayed to the first quarter of next year.

The Tunis bourse official said: "Tunisie Telecom's flotation cannot be completed in 2010. It may take place two months from now.

"It (the delay) is normal given the time such operations take. The bourse board of directors will meet in December about the IPO and then it will grant its approval for the IPO. For a company like Tunisie Telecom, the process should not take more than two months," the Tunis bourse official told Reuters.
   
The second source said Tunisian authorities delayed the listing to the first quarter of 2011 pending a decision on which foreign stock exchange they would eventually opt for.

The head of the Tunis stock exchange last month said 20 percent of Tunisie Telecom's capital would be floated, with equal shares from the government's 65 percent holding and from Dubai's Tecom.

Investments and Dubai Investment Group which together hold 35 percent. Tunisie Telecom has a capital of 875 million euros ($1.2 billion). It competes with private mobile phone operator Tunisiana, which is owned by Gulf telecom firms and a Tunisian firm. - Reuters