Thursday, July 30, 2009

France Telecom Could Consider Bidding For Zain Africa

­France Telecom says that it would consider bidding for some of the assets owned by Kuwait based Zain should the company look at breaking up its African division. Zain is currently understood to be looking for a single trade buyer for its ex-Celtel networks across Africa.

"As far as I know, no sales process for single assets of Zain's African operations is ongoing, but if this was the case, we would look at it," Chief Financial Officer Gervais Pellissier said in a conference call discussing the company's financial results.

France's Vivendi was in talks with Zain, but suspended the discussions last week.

In related news, citing unnamed sources, Al-Qabas newspaper said that the state owned Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) has asked Zain to keep it more closely informed of talks the company is having regarding its proposed African sale.

The KIA, which owns 24.6% of Zain has also previously suggested that it might sell its stake in the company if a suitable offer was made.

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