Saudi Telecom to buy remaining stake in Intigral for $10 mln

Saudi Telecom Co.’s (STC) board on Wednesday approved acquiring the remaining 29 percent stake owned by Malaysian All Asia Digital Media Limited in Gulf Digital Media Co. (Intigral) for $10 million (SAR 37.5 million).

When the transaction is complete, STC’s stake in the media firm will be raised to 100 percent, the telco said in a statement to the Saudi bourse.

The kingdom’s largest telecom operator said the deal, which will be financed from its own funds, will not have impact on financial results at this time and will not raise STC’s liabilities.

Dubai-based Intigral provides various services, including religious, entertainment and educational content via text messaging, voice messages or interactive TV.

In December 2011, STC increased its stake in Intigral to 71 percent from 51 percent.

Intigral, which also has an office in Riyadh, was founded as a joint venture between the Malaysian conglomerate and STC in 2009.