Kuwait’s Zain telecom yesterday confirmed it had received an offer for its operations in 15 African nations, but did not reveal the identity of the bidder.
The company said in a statement posted on the Kuwait Stock Exchange Web site that its board of directors were to meet yesterday to study the offer, but did not reveal its value.
The exchange immediately suspended trading in the shares of its largest listed firm until it receives notification of the outcome of the meeting.
INDIAN OPERATOR
Kuwait’s Al-Rai newspaper reported on Saturday that India’s largest mobile operator, Bharti Airtel, had offered US$10.7 billion to buy Zain’s African units, except in Sudan. Zain also said the deal does not include Morocco.
Zain entered the African market in 2005, buying the assets of Dutch Celtel for US$3.5 billion.
Later, Zain made key acquisitions in several other African nations, including Nigeria.
Zain also operates in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, as well as Kuwait.
Zain’s share price rose more than 20 percent and its capitalization gained US$3 billion to US$16.1 billion over the sale reports.
Last summer, Zain declined an offer from French telecom and media group Vivendi, reportedly at between US$10 billion and US$11 billion, saying the price was below expectation.
NEW CEO
Earlier this month, Zain accepted the resignation of Saad al-Barrak as its CEO. On Thursday, it appointed former communications minister Nabil bin Salama to replace him.
Since joining the company in 2002, Barrak transformed Zain from a local company with less than 1 million subscribers to an international telecom firm operating in 23 nations with 72 million subscribers.
The process required massive investments that exceeded US$12 billion.
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