Zain Shareholders Selling 46% Stake to India-Malaysian Consortium - Maybe

­Zain shareholders have agreed to sell a 46% stake in the company to various other investors, although very few details have been confirmed at this time. In a statement to the Kuwait Stock Exchange, National Investments said that it would sell its 10.86 percent stake in Zain for a price of 2 dinars ($6.97) a share, and will lead a group of other shareholders in selling their stakes.

It has been reported that a group led by the little known, privately held Vavasi Group and Malaysian billionaire Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary may buy the take, valued at US$13.7 billion.

The Indian-Malaysian group signed a "transaction agreement" yesterday - and it is reported that India's state controlled BSNL and MTNL will also join the consortium, although that has not been confirmed yet.

Any deal is not however expected to be consummated until the end of the year. The sources for the funding for the deal are also currently unclear.

The Vavasi Group is headquartered in India and says that it has interests in telecoms, real estate, renewable energy, steel and cement, although very little is actually known about the company or its finances. The company says that it has developed a new cellular standard, and could be trying to use the acquisition to commercialise its technology.

Posted to the site on 9th September 2009