Batelco, Kingdom abandon bid to buy Saudi Zain

KUWAIT CITY: Saudi Kingdom Holding and Bahrain's Batelco have abandoned their joint bid to buy Kuwait Zain's 25-percent

"Zain would like to announce that the two parties, Zain and the alliance of the Kingdom Holding and Batelco, have agreed to end discussions and negotiations for the sale of Zain stake in Zain Saudi Arabia," the company said in a statement posted on Kuwait Stock Exchange.

The consortium of Kingdom Holding of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal and Batelco made the offer to purchase Zain's 25-percent stake in Zain Saudi Arabia for $950 million and has since been engaged in due diligence examination.

Kuwait Zain's statement did not give any reason for ending talks with the Bahraini-Saudi consortium, but it reiterated its commitment for the development of Zain Saudi Arabia, one of three telecoms firms in the oil-rich kingdom.

The announcement comes after a Kuwaiti court on Sunday annulled the election of the board of directors of Kuwait's Zain, citing flawed procedures. Zain said it will challenge the lower court ruling.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011

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