The CEO of Kuwaiti operator Zain wants his company to retain a majority stake in its Bahrain mobile subsidiary once it is listed on the country’s stock exchange.
The telco currently owns 56.25% of Zain Bahrain and the offering of a 15% stake, as…
The CEO of Kuwaiti operator Zain wants his company to retain a majority stake in its Bahrain mobile subsidiary once it is listed on the country’s stock exchange.
The telco currently owns 56.25% of Zain Bahrain and the offering of a 15% stake, as required under its licence conditions, would see it lose control over the unit.
But Scott Gegenheimer told reporters on the sidelines of a conference that Zain would rather not go below 50% in order to “stay with a controlling interest”. He added that discussions are still ongoing as to whether it will be a primary or secondary listing and therefore what the “dilution factor will be”.
In April, Zain announced the listing of the Bahraini player, which started operating in 2003. As per local regulation, it is required to float part of the unit within a decade of obtaining a licence. Gegenheimer said Zain is still aiming to meet the end-of-year deadline to list Zain Bahrain.
Asked if Zain actually wanted to partially float its subsidiary or if it was ordered by the government to do so, a company source described the development as “a bit of both”, earlier this year.
The source noted at the time that “Zain is obliged, under the terms of its licence, to pursue an IPO, and has been keen to push ahead at some point. At the same time, the cabinet wants the IPO to be launched, as a way of generating activity in the stock market”.
Zain Bahrain, which claims to be the largest player in the country, is reportedly partly-owned by chairman Ahmed bin Ali Abdulla al-Khalifa (16.3%) and Vodafone (6.1%). Its competitors are Batelco and Viva.
According to Zain’s Q3/2013 presentation, the Bahrain operations contributed around 5% to the parent’s revenues. Its net profit was US$10m for the first nine months of the year.
