Kuwait’s Zain telecom and India’s top mobile firm Bharti Airtel are expected to sign a US$10.7 billion deal for the sale of Zain’s African assets today, a Kuwaiti daily reported.
Citing unnamed informed sources, al-Watan daily said the signing ceremony “will take place on Tuesday at the headquarters of Zain Africa” in Amsterdam.
Zain entered the African telecom market in 2005 by acquiring the operations of the Dutch Celtel firm for around US$3.5 billion.
Zain chairman Asaad al-Banwan and CEO Nabil bin Salamah were due to leave Kuwait for Amsterdam later yesterday to sign the deal, the paper said.
Bharti and Kuwait’s largest mobile operator, Zain, said in separate statements last week that they had finalized agreement for the sale of Zain’s operations in 15 African countries.
After the signing, the two companies will move toward getting any required approvals, Zain said.
The sale of the African assets does not include Zain’s operation in Sudan or its investment in Morocco.
The value of the deal includes US$1.7 billion of debt that the Indian telecom giant will assume.
Bharti is due to pay US$8.3 billion on signature of the deal, while the remaining US$700 million will be paid a year later.
Bharti Airtel, the largest Indian mobile phone operator, said last week it had raised the US$8.3 billion, mainly from international banks.
If the deal goes through, Bharti, which already has 125 million Indian subscribers, would get 42 million clients in 15 African countries from Burkina Faso to Zambia, while Zain clients will shrink to 30 million from 72 million.
Zain had said that it expects to post returns of up to US$5 billion from the deal.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
CHINA’s BULLYING: The former British prime minister said that he believes ‘Taiwan can and will’ protect its freedom and democracy, as its people are lovers of liberty Former British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday said Western nations should have the courage to stand with and deepen their economic partnerships with Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified pressure. He made the remarks at the ninth Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation in Taipei. Johnson, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, said he had seen Taiwan’s coastline on a screen on his indoor bicycle, but wanted to learn more about the nation, including its artificial intelligence (AI) development, the key technology of the 21st century. Calling himself an
South Korea yesterday said that it was removing loudspeakers used to blare K-pop and news reports to North Korea, as the new administration in Seoul tries to ease tensions with its bellicose neighbor. The nations, still technically at war, had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, Seoul’s military said in June after the election of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. It said in June that Pyongyang stopped transmitting bizarre, unsettling noises along the border that had become a major nuisance for South Korean residents, a day after South Korea’s loudspeakers fell silent. “Starting today, the military has begun removing the loudspeakers,”
RSS