(Xinhua via NewsEdge) Qatar Telecom (Qtel) is expected to acquire a 51% stake of Kuwait's Wataniya, in a deal worth over $3 billion, the Kuwait Times reported.
The initial deal, signed last week, could be officially signed and announced five days later in line with a local stock regulation, the daily said.
Under the deal, Kuwait Project (KIPCO), a private holding company, would sell its entire 51% stake of 233.688 million shares to Qtel for 1.075 billion Kuwait dinars ($3.6 billion dollars), KIPCO CEO Faisal al-Ayyar was quoted as saying.
Al-Ayyar said that Qtel has agreed to pay per share for 4.6 dinars ($15.9 dollars), up from last week's closing price of 3.1 dinars ($10.7 dollars).
When completed, the deal will become the largest ever acquisition by a foreign company in Kuwait, said the report.
Wataniya, which began operations in 1999, is one of two mobile phone operators in Kuwait. The other is Mobile Telecommunications, established in 1983.
'This deal is undoubtedly the most significant in the Gulf and a step toward a freer market in Kuwait,' Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al-Thani, chairman of Qtel, was quoted as saying.
The Qatar government owns 55% of Qtel.
© 2007 Xinhua News Agency
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