KT drops bid for Moroccan telecom firm

KT Corp., South Korea's top fixed line and No. 2 mobile operator, said Monday that it will not participate in a final bid for a stake in a Moroccan telecom operator due to differences over price.

In a regulatory filing, KT said it has decided not to bid for the 53-percent stake in Maroc Telecom, which is controlled by French multimedia giant Vivendi SA.

"But we will seek various cooperation with Morac Telecom depending on the situation," it said.

KT has been seeking to expand its global business in a bid to tide over the saturated domestic telecom market.

In July last year, the company said it is targeting 3.9 trillion won (US$3.47 billion) in annual revenue from global businesses by 2015.

In order to meet that goal, the company said it plans to focus on emerging markets by buying stakes or forming strategic partnerships with telecommunications firms in those markets. (Yonhap News)