Prince Alwaleed commented: “We are pleased that the board of directors of Zain Kuwait accepted our joint offer from Kingdom Holding and Batelco Group.”
The prince added: “The offer was reasonable to all parties. Our investment in Zain Saudi Arabia is a strategic investment decision by KHC to enter the telecommunications sector in a large and promising market such as Saudi Arabia, making this deal our initial entry for future expansion in the telecommunications sector regionally.”
Ahmed Halawani, KHC executive director of private equity and international investments, said: “The consortium’s offer is $950 million in cash and is subject to the findings of the due diligence. Ahmad Halawani added that the consortium’s offer does not include Zain Saudi Arabia liabilities amounting to $3,800 million, contrary to what has been published by news agencies. Kingdom Holding will lead the due diligence phase, which will commence after receiving the go ahead from Zain Saudi Arabia to access all required data and information.”
Halawani added: “This stage could take a minimum of six weeks.”
Peter Kaliaropoulos, Batelco Group’s chief executive, said: “We believe the strong partnership between KHC, Batelco and Zain KSA Management, will deliver significant results.
"We will all be focused to ensure Zain KSA becomes one of the most admired wireless, information and communications companies in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.
"The next few weeks are most critical. We need to support KHC and complete the due diligence exercise and finalize all negotiations with Zain Kuwait.
"Equally important we need to ensure we conclude agreements with various stakeholders including Zain Saudi Arabia board, the communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC), the Capital Market Authority (CMA) and various financial institutions in KSA. Subject to successfully completing the due diligence phase, we expect to submit a binding offer by mid May 2011,” Kaliaropoulos added.
