Orascom interested in any asset on sale

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Mobile telecoms is a sellers' market and Egypt's Orascom Telecom is interested in any asset for sale, in any geography, its Executive Chairman Naguib Sawiris said.

"If you ask me what are you interested in, I would tell you any mobile asset regardless of the geography," Sawiris told Reuters at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Tuesday.

"You can't even be choosy today. That's why people are going to more difficult areas. That's why we are in Korea. That's why we would go to Cuba if we could," Sawiris added.

Orascom Telecom has built up a reputation for entering markets where other firms were reluctant to go, such as setting up a mobile network in Iraq when bombings and other attacks were commonplace. It has since left.

Orascom now operates in countries such as Algeria, Tunisia, Pakistan, Egypt, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, North Korea and Canada.

In Pakistan, Sawiris said he expects to see consolidation this year because companies are not making money.

"We are open to be a party to that (consolidation), be a consolidator," Sawiris said.

Asked if price was a reason Orascom was not interested in the African assets of Kuwait operator Zain, Sawiris said: "We can't afford to buy it right now."

Africa was one remaining area with growth potential, considering penetration rates of 30 percent or less, Sawiris said.

"But managing African assets is a very challenging job," he said, citing corruption, bureaucracy, and crime.

"Like in Nigeria people could be kidnapped or you have your base stations on the roof and they get stolen and sold for scrap," Sawiris said.

But Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal may be making the right move with the company's $9 billion bid for Zain's African assets, Sawiris said.

"For my friend Sunil, for him and his shareholders I believe it is a good step, because he wants to turn the company into a global company."

If Bharti Airtel can adapt its Indian low-cost model, it could create additional value on top of the purchase price, he said.

Orascom itself is struggling with a drawn out legal battle with France Telecom over its stake in Egyptian mobile operator Mobinil.

"We think now that we have to admit that the company is suffering because of this dispute, I can't deny that anymore, we thought we might get away with it if the dispute is short," Sawiris said.

"We see now that the legal battle may take years, we are now quite worried about the company...and that the competition may take advantage," he said, adding that Orascom wanted an amicable solution but that negotiations were currently on hold.

(Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)