UAE telecoms operator e&'s CEO to join Vodafone’s board as ties strengthen

Companies to work together on a technology road map and jointly offer services to multinational customers

Hatem Dowidar, group chief executive of e&. Leslie Pableo / The National

The UAE telecoms and technology company e& — the largest shareholder in the Vodafone Group — has said its chief executive will take a seat on the UK company's board, as they strengthen ties.

Hatem Dowidar will join the Vodafone board as a non-executive director for as long as e& maintains its current shareholding of nearly 15 per cent, e& said in a regulatory filing on Thursday to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded.

The companies said they would work together on procurement and jointly offer services to multinational customers, including fixed and mobile connectivity, mobile private networks, Internet of Things, cyber security and cloud-based services.

“Our investment in Vodafone is anchored by Vodafone Group's established position,” Mr Dowidar said. “This aligns with e&'s vision of becoming a global telecom and technology player.

E& — formerly known as the Etisalat Group — could also nominate a second non-executive director if its shareholding exceeds 20 per cent, it said. The appointments are subject to regulatory approvals, it added.

Abu Dhabi-listed e& first acquired 2.76 billion shares, or a 9.8 per cent stake, in Vodafone for $4.4 billion in May 2022, before increasing its shareholding to 11 per cent in early December.

In January, e& increased its stake in the British company to 12 per cent “to obtain significant exposure to a global leader, leverage potential commercial partnership and realise future return on our investment”. It then upped the stake to 14 per cent in February.

Under the latest plan, the two operators will work together on a technology road map, including the evolution and adoption of OpenRAN (Radio Access Network).

The UAE company set a ceiling for its interest in Vodafone at 24.99 per cent. It also said it would only sell a maximum of 3 per cent of Vodafone’s shares during each 12-month period and would otherwise not sell for two years.

Founded in Abu Dhabi more than four decades ago as the UAE’s first telecoms company, Etisalat rebranded as e& in February last year in a push to transform into a global technology investment conglomerate. The group now operates in 16 countries across the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

In December last year it teamed up with South Korea's Bespin Global to set up a business that will provide public cloud services in the Middle East, Africa, Turkey and Pakistan.

In October, e& launched a $250 million venture capital fund as part of its new investment unit, e& capital, to support the technology start-up ecosystem.

In the same month, e& enterprise completed the 100 per cent acquisition of Smartworld, a technology solutions provider and systems integrator in the UAE.

In 2021, the company raised its ownership in Etisalat Investment North Africa to 100 per cent, increasing its effective ownership in Morocco's Maroc Telecom Group to 53 per cent, from 48.4 per cent.