Etisalat Could Lose Zain Bid Despite Brighter Prospects

In a surprise, 11th-hour move, Turkey's Çukurova Holdings has tabled an offer to buy 29.9% of Zain Group for US$7.89bn. While the offer is smaller in scale than the US$12bn offered last year by UAE-based Etisalat for 46% of Zain, it does mean that foreign investors would have less influence over the Kuwait-based regional mobile operator, which might be more palatable to the other shareholders in the company. Nevertheless, BMI's telecoms desk continues to hold the view that the tighter regional focus promised by the tie-up with Etisalat would prove more beneficial in the long term.

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