Zain Sees $5 Billion Profit From Africa Unit Sale

* username: rupertbu

Zain, Kuwait’s biggest phone company, said it expects a return of as much as $5 billion from selling most of its African assets to Bharti Airtel Ltd.

Bharti, South Asia’s biggest mobile-phone company, and Zain said yesterday they entered into exclusive talks under which the Indian company would buy the African assets for $10.7 billion. Bharti will pay $10 billion when the deal is completed and the rest a year later, Zain said in a statement on the Kuwait Stock Exchange Web site today. The transaction excludes Zain’s operations in Sudan and Morocco.

“Revenue from the unit sale will contribute to Zain’s second-quarter results,” the statement said.