Business briefs: Bharti makes bid for Zain assets

KUWAIT CITY: India’s largest mobile phone operator Bharti Airtel has offered $10.7 billion (7.9 billion euros) to buy Kuwait’s Zain telecom operations in 15 African nations, a newspaper reported on Saturday. Quoting unnamed “reliable sources,” Kuwait’s Al-Rai daily said the “official bid” was made on Thursday and will not include Zain’s totally-owned unit in Sudan.

GFH seeks $100m Wakala facility

MANAMA: Gulf Finance House (GFH), an Islamic investment bank, is in discussions with the Bahrain-based Liquidity Management Centre (LMC) regarding the tenor of its $100 million Wakala facilities due in 2010 ($50 million) and 2011 ($50 million), the bank said in a statement. GFH Chairman Esam Janahi said GFH has proven to be resilient in tough market conditions.

Air Arabia posts $123m net profit

SHARJAH: Sharjah-based Air Arabia posted a net profit of 452 million dirhams ($123.1 million) for 2009, the company said on Saturday. The Emirati airline served 4.1 million passengers in 2009, up 14.2 percent from 3.6 million in 2008, a statement on the company’s website said.