Today’s AGM/EGM at Kuwait-based telco Zain has voted in two new board members, a spokesperson has confirmed.
Bader Al Kharafi, the son of Nasser Al-Kharafi, the chairman of the powerful Al-Kharafi shareholder group, and Sheikha Al Baher, of the National…
Today’s AGM/EGM at Kuwait-based telco Zain has voted in two new board members, a spokesperson has confirmed.
Bader Al Kharafi, the son of Nasser Al-Kharafi, the chairman of the powerful Al-Kharafi shareholder group, and Sheikha Al Baher, of the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), will replace Sheikha Aida and Sheikh Khalifa on the board.
The new board is due to meet soon in order to confirm the new chairman and deputy chairman.
As reported in last week’s issue of TelecomFinance, the expectation had been that there would be significant changes at the board level, and that local rumours had pointed to a key member of the Al-Kharafis potentially becoming chairman.
Zain is at a crossroads, now that Etisalat has abandoned its US$11.7bn offer on 46% of the company. The company will be widely considered a target, especially as the data room is still open, but new capital markets rules in Kuwait would force any bidder looking for more than a 30% stake to make an offer to the remaining shareholders. As such, the company is now seen as expensive, so any new offer would likely be significantly less than what Etisalat had offered.
Following significant disagreement at Zain’s shareholder and board level – two of the reasons cited by Etisalat for its decision to abandon its offer – sources now believe that a break-up or liquidation may be the only way to ensure an orderly exit for all shareholders.
