Emirates Telecommunications Corp., the United Arab Emirates’ largest phone company, plans to borrow more than $9 billion to buy shares in Mobile Telecommunications Co., three bankers familiar with the deal said.
The financing to acquire a stake in Zain, as the Kuwaiti phone company is known, would be the largest acquisition loan by a company in the Middle East and Africa since at least 1999, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It may take the form of a short-term bridge loan that will be replaced with longer-term financing, said the bankers, who declined to be identified as the discussions are private.
Emirates Telecom, known as Etisalat, started talks with banks to finance the deal, Al-Bayan reported today citing Chief Operating Officer Salem Al-Sharhan. Jamal Al-Jarwan, chief executive officer of Etisalat’s international investments department, couldn’t be reached for comment.
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