Etisalat offers $11.7 bn for 46-% stake in Kuwait’s Zain

The Middle East's largest telecom company Etisalat yesterday said that it has submitted a preliminary conditional offer to buy a 46-per cent stake in Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Company (Zain) for approximately $11.7 billion, in one of the largest deals in the region in recent history.

In a communication to the Abu Dhabi Securities Market, Etisalat disclosed that the company has offered 1.70 Kuwaiti dinars (approximately $5.96) per share of Zain. However, the company said the deal is in its initial stage.

 ''We would like to emphasize that no final agreement has been reached at this point in time as this offer depends on the fulfilment of specific requirements to finalise the deal,'' Salem Ali Al Sharhan, Group chief financial officer of Etisalat stated.

The offer price represents a 35-per cent premium to Zain's closing share price of 1.26 Kuwaiti dinars on Thursday, before the announcement of the proposal.

Kuwait-based Zain is a leading telecom operator across the Middle East providing mobile voice and data services to over 34 million customers. The company has operations in 8 countries including, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Lebanon. It also has a stake in Morocco's Wana Telecom through a joint venture.

Zain is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange and has a market capitalisation of around $18 billion as at 9 August 2010.