UAE’s Etisalat to collaborate with Bespin Global of South Korea

In order to establish a joint venture (JV) with an initial capital of $10 million, South Korean multi-cloud solution provider Bespin Global and UAE telecom firm Etisalat (e&) have signed a legally binding agreement.
The JV, to be called Bespin Global MEA, will be 65% owned by e& enterprise and 35% by Bespin Global, the telecoms company said in a disclosure to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) on Friday. The contributions to the capital will be on a pro-rata basis. 
Under the agreement, the UAE telecom company can potentially unlock further collaboration with existing Bespin Global’s shareholders by making a primary investment of $60 million in Bespin Global in exchange for a stake of about 10%. 
In addition, e& has the option to invest another $60 million at the same valuation within a period of 18 months from the completion of the transaction. Also, e& is committed to provide the JV an additional funding of up to $40 million, in the form of shareholder loans, to finance the growth of the business.  The investments will be paid in cash, e& said. 
Upon completion of the transaction, the JV will be consolidated into e&’s financials. 
It will offer public cloud managed and professional services in the Middle East, Turkey, Africa, and Pakistan (METAP).  
The move to form the JV is in line with the company’s “strategic ambition of scaling up the e& enterprise vertical and enhancing its digital capabilities,” according to the statement.  Earlier this week, Etisalat boosted its ownership of the Vodafone Group in Britain to 11%.