Having recently looked to acquire a controlling stake in its Indian joint venture, the UAE operator Etisalat has now attempted to acquire a 46% stake in Kuwait’s Zain...
Having recently looked to acquire a controlling stake in its Indian joint venture, the UAE operator Etisalat has now attempted to acquire a 46% stake in Kuwait’s Zain - a firm which is considered one of Etisalat’s biggest rivals.
According to reports on the Arabic TV channel CNBC Arabia, Etisalat’s proposed stake in Zain would be valued at around US$10 billion, which works out at around US$5.97 per share. While the reports have yet to be confirmed by either company, the value of Zain’s shares is now higher than it has been for four months.
While Etisalat has reportedly hired the National Bank of Kuwait as an advisor, Zain’s major shareholder, the Kharafi Group, is being advised by the French bank BNP Paraibas. Last year, the Kharafi Group allegedly engineered the sale of a 46% stake in Zain to a consortium of Asian operators, among them MTNL and BSNL, in a deal which failed to close.
Meanwhile, Etisalat’s Indian interests remain, with chairman Mohammed Omran confirming that the company is exploring opportunities for a merger with India’s second-largest mobile operator, Reliance. The Middle Eastern firm has also been linked to the Indian IDEA Cellular, among other operators, and is aiming to make further inroads into Indian in the next year, according to Omran.
