BSNL consortium begins talks to buy Zain

A consortium comprising India's telecom PSUs BSNL and MTNL, among others, on Monday said it has started negotiations for acquiring control of Kuwait's biggest phone company Zain Telecom that has presence in 24 countries.

"We have started the process of negotiations for acquisition of a controlling stake in Zain," BSNL's chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal told reporters.

The talks come days after failure of renewed negotiations between India's Bharti Airtel and South Africa's MTN.

Besides BSNL and MTNL, other members of the consortium are India's Vavasi group and a Malaysian entity. The deal is expected to be a multi-billion dollar transaction.

Speaking on the sidelines of an International Telecommunication Union conference, Goyal said the consortium has begun talks and was looking for at least 50 per cent stake with management control. "We'll prefer a controlling stake (over 50 per cent)," he added.

Goyal did not comment on what would be the stake of individual consortium members, saying that these things would be part of the negotiations.

Asked for his comments, Telecom Minister A Raja said: "It's well within the scope of the PSUs. Thet have every right to go global.

"If the Department of Telecom feels that it (the deal) is detrimental to the two PSUs, only then the DoT will seek a clarification from them."

Raja further added that "if they reach a deal, it will then need the approval of different ministries as also from the Cabinet."

Earlier on Sunday, Kharafi Group, one of the largest shareholders of Zain, had said that it has received interest from a group of investors, including BSNL, MTNL, Vavasi and Malaysian billionaire Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhar, for acquiring up to 46 per cent stake in Kuwait's largest telecom company.

"We have received an official letter stating that BSNL and MTNL are interested to participate in the proposal for buying upto 46 per cent of Zain's shares from the Kharafi group," Kharafi's Group's vice-chairman Badr al-Kharafi had said in a statement.

There have been reports that the stake could be valued at about 13.7 billion dollars. Kharafi reportedly holds over 20
per cent stake in Zain.