ZAIN raises US$ 4.49bn for more acquisitions

ZAIN raises US$ 4.49bn for more acquisitions
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Thursday October 02, 2008 [04:00]

ZAIN has announced that it has raised about US$ 4.49 billion to fund further acquisitions by the Group. According to the statement, the funds raised by Zain Group which operates in the country as Zain Zambia Limited Plc, was the largest ever capital raising in Kuwait's history and saw 99 per cent of shareholders subscribe.

The statement also announced that the amount raised was unprecedented in Kuwait's history exceeding all expectations, given the gloomy trends that have recently dominated local and international markets and resulted in sharp declines in the prices of oil as well as significant collapses in the financial markets worldwide.

Commenting on the transaction, Zain's chief executive officer Dr Saad Al Barrak said: "The successful completion of the largest capital increase in the history of Kuwait is a unanimous vote of confidence by our shareholders in Zain's management team, the performance to date and in our profitable expansion strategy aiming to be a top-ten global mobile operator by 2011. The proceeds of this capital increase will be used to finance future strategic expansion plans and meet financial commitments."

The statement further added that Zain had managed to achieve unprecedented leaps in the global mobile telecommunications sector over the past five years to be now present in 22 countries on two continents serving over 50 million active customers.

Every Zain shareholder of record on March 10, 2008, the date the company held its ordinary and extraordinary General Assembly Meeting, was eligible to subscribe to a number of capital increase shares equal to 75 per cent of the total number of shares they held on this date.

"The capital increase subscription price was 850 fils (approximately US$3.20) per share i.e. a par value of 100 fils per share plus a premium of 750 fils. The subscription period commenced August 17 and closed on September 18, 2008," read the statement in part