Bahrain’s state-run operator, Batelco
and Kingdom Holdings Company (KHC) have reportedly pulled out of the proposed
25 percent stake buyout of Zain Saudi Arabia for US$ 950 million, saying that
the proposed terms could not be met. According to industry analysts, Zain
Saudi’s $5.5 billion debt – that includes $651 million owed to Zain, as well as
a capital restructuring to alleviate accumulated losses amounting to $2.3
billion may have been the cause of the scrapping of the deal.

 

This follows an earlier announcement by Batelco’s CEO,
Peter Kaliaropoulos in July, who said that the deal was expected to be
completed within 8 weeks, and another statement made a couple of days ago by
Kaliaropoulos, when he reiterated the fact that the deal was on track, while
awaiting a court ruling questioning the validity of Zain’s annual shareholding
meet, where some shareholders objected to the deal.

 

On March 14, Zain had accepted a joint offer for its 25
percent stake in Zain Saudi Arabia from Batelco and Saudi billionaire Prince
Alwaleed bin Talal’s investment, Kingdom Holdings Company. However, there have
been problems since the outset, forcing months of talks for the deal which
finally ended in failure.

 

A week ago, Zain Saudi Arabia launched its high-speed 4G
wireless network in three major Saudi cities – Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, in
partnership with Motorola, becoming the first in the Middle East and Africa region
to roll out LTE. Zain Saudi plans to extend its 4G network to most of the
country’s major cities by the end of 2012.

 

By Telecomlead.com
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