Zain Telecom: Something about it

Zain Group used to be known as MTC back in the day, or the Mobile Telecommunications Company (yep, whoever named it was a creative chap). The company, which provided mobile telecommunications, if you can believe that, was founded in Kuwait in 1983. It was rebranded Zain in 2007, presumably to make it sound much cooler. Company already sold some of its assets of Nigeria, Tanzania, and Kenya. The company has a commercial presence in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, and can boast no fewer than 5,000 employees and more than 35 million customers.

Who wants it?

Suitor#1 is Cukurova Holding, the Turkish company behind Turkcell. It wants to buy 29.9 percent of the company for $7.89 billion. That values the company at 1.72 dinars a share.

Suitor#2 is everyone’s second favourite UAE telco, Etisalat. It launched an attempt to acquire 46 percent of Zain back in November in a deal that valued the Kuwaiti company at 1.7 dinars per share. The deal would be worth a whopping $11.7 billion total.

Why?

So why do these companies want it? Well, for one thing, it’s attainable. Zain is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, and 100 percent of its shares are traded. Thirty five million customers across eight countries just waiting to be bought. Results for the first half of last year had revenues of $2.33 billion. Also, last year the company sold Zain Afric BV to Bharti Airtel Limited for more than $10 billion. So what we have is a successful business that operates in growing markets with a solid customer base and healthy financials, and it’s pretty much up for sale.