A shareholder in telecoms carrier Zain has filed a lawsuit to halt due diligence in a planned $12 billion sale of a controlling stake in the company to UAE’s Etisalat, a Zain board member said.
Sheikh Khalifa Ali al Khalifa al Sabah, whose brother is head of Al Fawares Holding, the shareholder taking the legal action, said he understood a court date had been set.
He told Reuters: “I think December 8 has been set for hearing the urgent part of it, which is a request to halt the board members’ decision to open books to Etisalat.”
In November, Zain’s board agreed to open its books to Etisalat, which has offered to buy 46 percent of the company in a deal worth about $12 billion.
Kharafi Group, one of Zain’s major shareholders, has said it gathered enough approvals from shareholders to tender the stake to Etisalat’s.
“Without an official offer, how can you open the books?,” Sheikh Khalifa told Reuters in an interview. “Our aim is not to stop the deal, our aim is to stop opening the books. The agreement is not obligatory and based on that, books should not be opened.”
Al Fawares owns about 4.5 percent in Zain, said Sheikh Khalifa.
Zain’s shares closed 1.4 percent lower on Wednesday after talk of the lawsuit reached the Kuwaiti bourse, whose index ended 0.6 percent down.(Reuters)
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