Egypt's Orascom Telecom (OTH) is closer to being delisted, sources said yesterday, after holders of around 10 per cent of its stock agreed to be bought out.

Russia's Altimo, the biggest owner of OTH's parent Vimpelcom, made a $1.8 billion offer in March to buy out OTH minorities and sources said Vimpelcom wanted to delist OTH from both the Cairo and London stock exchanges.

Delisting should allow Vimpelcom to cut the costs of its Egyptian office, avoid regulatory risks and political instability as well as improve efficiency by placing OTH assets under direct management by Vimpelcom.

The OTH management last week advised shareholders to reject the offer, saying it was too low. But Altimo confirmed the offer price at $0.70 per share.

A source close to advisers on the offer said that in addition to the 10 per cent tendered by holders of London-listed global depositary shares, three funds holding another 3 per cent of OTH shares had expressed interest after the offer expired on Wednesday.-Reuters