Gov't Concludes WESTEL Deal

There are strong indications that government has concluded the deal to hand a significant share of WESTEL communications to a strategic investor. Government had earlier announced that it was set to sell majority shares in WESTEL to a strategic investor to enhance its operations and make it competitive. An initial deal to sell the company to Kinz Telecom of the United Arab Emirates fell through as the two parties could not agree on a comprehensive price. CITI FM�s sources indicate that Netherlands based Celtell communications has been given a 75% stake in the company. Initially Celtell was prepared to buy a 66.34% of the company for an amount of $125 million but sources say after intensive negotiations, the two parties agreed on a price of $180 million for Celtell to own a 75% stake in WESTEL. Celtell is set to begin active preparations to commence full scale operations in Ghana following the agreement.