Egypt's Competition Authority (ECA) has said that it will look at a request filed by Vodafone Egypt to study whether shareholder Telecom Egypt has the right to claim preemption over the potential sale of a majority stake in the company.

Vodafone Group announced last month it had signed a preliminary deal to sell its 55 percent stake in the Egyptian unit to Saudi Arabia’s largest telecom operator STC for $2.39 billion.

Telecom Egypt owns the remaining 45 percent of Vodafone Egypt’s shares.

"The authority received a request from Vodafone Egypt to study whether the use of preemption by Telecom Egypt to buy Vodafone Group's share in Vodafone Egypt is in line with the competition law," it said in a statement on Wednesday. 

The competition watchdog said it will take necessary legal action according to the competition law and its executive regulations.

Recent reports said that Telecom Egypt, the largest fixed-line operator in Africa and the Middle East, may resort to the right of preemption in

The sale of Vodafone Egypt's shares to the Saudi company should be completed in June.

*Correction: An earlier version of this article mistakenly reported that the request is filed by Telecom Egypt. It is filed by Vodafone Egypt.