M1 Group

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M1 Group
TypePrivate
IndustryFinance, investment
Founded2007
FounderTaha Mikati
Najib Mikati
Headquarters
Beirut, Lebanon
Websitewww.m1group.com

M1 group is a diversified investment holdings group based in Beirut, Lebanon. Its CEO is Azmi Mikati.[1]

Origin[]

The business was created in the early 1980s by Taha Mikati and Najib Mikati, the latter of whom became Prime Minister of Lebanon in 2005, 2011 and again in 2021.[2] It began in the construction sector. During the 1980s it expanded into telecommunications and formed the basis of their flagship company Investcom. In 2005, Investcom employed more than 5000 people with a presence in ten countries across three continents. Its gross earnings reached $660 million. When listed on the London Stock Exchange and that of Dubai on 6 October 2005, it had a market capitalization of $3.3 billion and was among the largest companies in the middle east.

In June 2006, the South African company MTN bought Investcom for $5.5 billion,[3] thereby becoming the first mobile phone corporation for the middle eastern market.

In 2007, the Mikati brothers founded M1 Group, which now comprises:

  • M1 limited, which holds a 10% stake in MTN
  • M1 Real Estate which owns real estate in Europe, the United States and the Middle East[4]
  • M1 Fashion which owns several clothing brands including Façonnable, Pepe jeans and Hackett London[5][2]
  • M1 Capital, which oversees the holding's financial assets and portfolios
  • M1 Enterprises, which main activity is to invest in various businesses across different sectors
  • M1 investments, which focuses on managing the holding's private equity funds
  • AREEBA, a financial technology company

In February 2010, M1 Group acquired 50% of the EFG-Hermes stake in the Lebanese Bank Audi, the largest bank in the country, for $450 million.[citation needed]

Myanmar[]

According to a UN-report from 2019, M1 Group had business interest with the Myanmar military through Mytel,[6] and the Burma Campaign UK placed M1 Group on their "dirty list", due to M1 Group being "a major shareholder in Irrawaddy Green Towers, a mobile phone tower company which works for the military joint venture Mytel."[7][8]

After the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, the Military junta told telecom companies in Myanmar that "they had until Monday July 5 to fully implement intercept technology they had previously been asked to install to let authorities spy on calls, messages and web traffic and to track users by themselves".[9] Under these circumstances Telenor found it impossible to stay in the country, and sold its Myanmar business to the M1 group for $105 million.[10]

References[]

  1. ^ "M1 Group". Mbendi.com. 25 October 2015. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Pepe Jeans passes to M1 Group and L Capital Asia". Sportswearnet.com. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  3. ^ The World's Billionaires: #446, Najib Mikati, Forbes, published 5 March 2008, retrieved 7 July 2011
  4. ^ Lebanese investors buy Credit Suisse’s Canary Wharf office, Property Week, published 7 August 2009, retrieved 7 July 2011
  5. ^ (in French) Façonnable rachetée par M1 Group, Franchise Magazine.com, published 27 July 2007, retrieved 15 July 2011
  6. ^ The economic interests of the Myanmar military, Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar
  7. ^ The Dirty List, March 2021, Burma Campaign UK
  8. ^ About the company M1 Group, Added to the Dirty List 20 August 2019, Burma Campaign UK
  9. ^ After pressuring telecom firms, Myanmar's junta bans executives from leaving, Fanny Potkin, July 5, 2021, reuters
  10. ^ Telenor quits Myanmar with $105 mln sale to Lebanon's M1 Group, Victoria Klesty, July 8, 2021, reuters
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