Zain in stake talks with etisalat: report

Kuwaiti telecom firm Zain is in talks with Abu Dhabi's Emirates Telecommunications (etisalat) about selling a majority stake in the group, a Kuwaiti newspaper report has said.

Both firms held meetings last week to discuss the potential deal, daily Al Seyassah said. "Etisalat does not comment on market speculation and rumours," Ahmed bin Ali, Group Senior Vice-President for Corporate Communications at etisalat, told Reuters.

The Abu Dhabi operator has said it is looking at options in India, including taking a 26 per cent stake in the country's second-biggest mobile operator Reliance Communications. A Zain spokesman could not be reached for comment on the report.

Earlier this month Zain's Chief Executive Nabeel bin Salama said the firm was not in talks to sell further assets, after it closed the sale of its African assets, excluding Sudan and Morocco, to India's Bharti Airtel in a $9 billion (Dh33bn) deal.

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