Kuwaiti telco Zain had to brush off fresh rumours that it is back in talks with a number of potential buyers for its African assets, formerly known as Celtel.
The speculation was almost inevitable after the group’s CEO Saad al Barrak, who was understood…
Kuwaiti telco Zain had to brush off fresh rumours that it is back in talks with a number of potential buyers for its African assets, formerly known as Celtel.
The speculation was almost inevitable after the group’s CEO Saad al Barrak, who was understood to be against a sale, announced his resignation last week without giving reasons.
His departure is likely to ease the way for proponents of the sale including the family-owned Kharafi Group, which is believed to have first pushed for a sale last year.
The group is also at the forefront of the separate negotiations started last year to sell a 46% stake in Zain in a US$13.7bn deal. However, the slow progress of those talks could encourage Kharafi to turn its attention to the African assets once again.
In June last year, Zain mandated UBS to review its operations in Africa, which span some 16 countries but have proved highly capex-intensive, while yielding little profit. The most serious suitor was understood to be Vivendi, advised by Calyon, but talks collapsed after the buyer and seller disagreed on a price.
Since then, global operators including China Mobile, Vodafone and France Telecom have been rumoured to be eyeing the assets. However, it is unlikely that a deal would top the US$12bn reportedly sought by Zain, with some sources suggesting that a better option would be to sell the assets separately.
