Kuwait-based operator secures $4.53 billion capital hike green light for overseas investments.
Zain this week said it has been given government approval for a $4.53 billion capital increase in order to fund its foreign expansion plans, reported the Middle East North Africa Financial Network.
Under the terms of the Kuwaiti mobile operator’s inception decree, it requires the government to OK any capital hikes.
Zain, formerly known as Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC), has repeatedly stated its desire for inorganic growth, particularly in the Middle East and Africa.
“We are looking at expanding in Africa and in the next six to 12 months we will definitely take on three African operations,” said Zain Africa CEO Chris Gabriel, in recent press reports.
He also said that the company is exploring the potential of becoming South Africa’s fourth mobile provider, a licence for which is set to be made available by the government in 2009.
In the Middle East, Zain bought 100% of Iraqi operator Iraqna Telecom from Egypt’s Orascom at the end of 2007 for $1.2 billion.
Also last year, the operator successfully led a consortium that bid $6.1 billion for Saudi Arabia’s third mobile licence. Reports in mid-June said that Zain was gearing up to launch trial network operations that will run until September.
Recent reports have also linked the telco to a possible merger with India’s Bharti Airtel, a claim dismissed by both companies on Thursday, although Zain has confirmed it is studying growth opportunities in the country.
In fact, as Total Telecom Magazine featured in March, Zain has made 20 acquisitions totalling $15 billion in the Middle East and Africa since April 2003. And it isn’t the only operator in the region aggressively extending its reach.
Qatar Telecom (QTel) this week filed a tender offer for all the outstanding shares of Indosat, having paid $1.8 billion for a 40.8% stake in the Indonesian mobile operator in June.
U.A.E.-based operator Etisalat in May raised its stake in West African player Atlantic Telecom to 82%. Atlantic owns majority stakes in telcos in the Ivory Coast, Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon and Togo, amongst others.
In the same month the company said it was exploring the possibility of launching a bid for South Africa’s MTN, which is currently in the midst of what has become a complex series of negotiations with India’s Reliance Communications.
What’s more Etisalat this week signed an MoU with France Telecom to collaborate on home services and content, as well as an agreement to put in place preferred international roaming within each other’s footprint.
Meanwhile, the French incumbent is also on the expansion trail, revealing that it has not ruled out the possibility of partnering with Algeria’s Djezzy, owned by Orascom, as a means of entering the north-east African country.
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