The KHC announcement follows preliminary discussions with Batelco Group (Batelco) and a meeting held between the two companies.

“We are pleased to announce that we reached agreement with Batelco Group to participate in the Kingdom Holding-led consortium to acquire 25 percent of Zain KSA,” Ahmed Halawani, executive director, private equity and international investments executive director, KHC, was quoted as saying in a company statement.

“Today we submitted a revised non-binding offer to Zain Group for its 25 percent stake of Zain KSA valid till 9 a.m. March 14. Should our offer meet with acceptance from Zain Group board directors, Kingdom Holding looks forward to leading the due diligence phase and negotiating the terms and conditions of the final binding agreement between all parties,” Halawani said.

He said the KHC is pleased with Zain KSA’s growth and accomplishments and “we look forward to working with its management under Saad Al-Barrak’s leadership”.

Prince Alwaleed, Batelco Chairman Sheikh Hamad bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa, Batelco Group CEO Batelco Peter Kaliaropoulos and Halawani attended the meeting, the statement added.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to support KHC in its efforts bid to acquire 25 percent of Zain KSA as their technical partner,” Kaliaropoulos said.

“With extensive regional wireless telecom experience across seven markets, supporting close to 10 million customers, Batelco Group is confident that it will deliver synergies to Zain KSA and accelerate value creation for all the shareholders, should our consortium’s offer after due diligence be accepted,” the CEO added.

“We value KHC’s leadership and we look forward to supporting them through an effective technical and business partnership.”