A Yahsat owned SPV has bought Etisalat's 20.04 per cent stake in Thuraya. Image Al Yah 3 - Courtesy Yahsat
A Yahsat owned SPV has bought Etisalat's 20.04 per cent stake in Thuraya. Image Al Yah 3 - Courtesy Yahsat

Etisalat completes sale of Thuraya stake for Dh137m



Etisalat, the UAE's biggest telecoms operator, on Thursday said it completed the sale of its stake in Thuraya Telecommunications company for $37 million (Dh137m) to Star Satellite Communications.

The deal to sell Etisalat’s 20.04 per cent stake in the UAE satellite operator was closed on on Wednesday, it said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded.

Star, a special purpose vehicle owned by Al Yah Satellite Communications (Yahsat), acquired the stake after receiving regulatory approvals, and meeting condition of Yahsat “acquiring at least 75.001 per cent ownership in Thuraya,” Etisalat said.

Satellite operator Yahsat in April announced an agreement to buy a majority stake in the mobile satellite services operator Thuraya, without disclosing the financial details of the transaction.

“The acquisition of the UAE’s first home-grown satellite operator, Thuraya, will significantly expand Yahsat’s current satellite solutions portfolio for both commercial and government verticals, as well as its global footprint,” the company said in a statement at the time.

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Yahsat, which launched its third satellite Al Yah 3 in January, is anticipating greater demand for satellite broadband services on the back of higher uptake in Internet of Things serviced industries such as oil and gas and on the growth of sustainable cities in the region. The company's acquisition of a majority stake in Thuraya is part of efforts to grow its mobility segment, Yahsat chief executive Masood Mahmood told The National in June.

Thuraya, which operates two satellites serving 140 countries, will expand Yahsat’s portfolio to five. In all, Yahsat will have a combination of geostationary satellites which will cover Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South America and Asia, providing a broad range of fixed and mobile satellite services encompassing voice and data communications.

It will expand Yahsat’s commercial Ka-band coverage to an additional 19 new markets in Africa, reaching 60 per cent of the population. Furthermore, Al Yah 3 will serve Brazil, covering over 95 per cent of its population, it said in April.

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Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.

The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?

My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.

The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.

So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.

 

 

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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