UAE incumbent Etisalat is still interested in buying a 46% stake in Kuwait-based telco Zain, according to Etisalat spokesperson Ahmed bin Ali as cited by Zawya. This comes after NIC, a unit of the Zain shareholder group the Al Kharafis, told the Kuwaiti…
UAE incumbent Etisalat is still interested in buying a 46% stake in Kuwait-based telco Zain, according to Etisalat spokesperson Ahmed bin Ali as cited by Zawya. This comes after NIC, a unit of the Zain shareholder group the Al Kharafis, told the Kuwaiti stock exchange that its “commitment” to the deal had ended.
Bin Ali added that “pertinent and suitable information related to the due diligence have been collected”, and that the company is in the process of examining and analising the information it has gathered. Once this is done, Etisalat will hold a discussion with Zain and then present the results of this to its own board of directors.
Etisalat will keep stakeholders informed of the transaction’s progress, Bin Ali concluded.
Key conditions for the deal were completing due diligence by the end of February and Zain selling off its 25% stake in Saudi Arabian business Zain KSA. The first of these has been met, but the second has not.
Etisalat has since indicated that the sale of Zain KSA is not necessarily a deal breaker.
The Al Kharafis are advised by BNP Paribas, Etisalat by Morgan Stanley and NBK, and Zain by Credit Agricole and/or Zain.
