Nairobi, (ITNewsAfrica)–Zain is conducting a strategic review of its African Assets with the aim of maximizing shareholder value and will consider approaches that achieve that, Zain Chief Executive Officer Dr Saad Al Barrak said.
“We have received expressions of interest from several parties to acquire Zain operations in Africa.
“The Board of Directors of Zain has been discussing such matters and will consider any proposals that may be submitted. Further announcements will be made in due course,” he said.
Last month, Vivendi which was considered a serious buyer of the assets pulled out of the deal.
While releasing its first half results of 2009 where Zain Group announced impressive revenues of US$4.014 billion, Al Barrak said that Zain was working on several fronts to overcome the challenges in global markets such as the increasing cost of finance and the sharp volatility of currency rates, pointing out that Zain was able to achieve realistic results despite the fact that the latter cost the company US$63.3 million.
“Despite the challenges imposed by the global economic crisis and the competitive markets in which we operate, these impressive first quarter results are testament to the sound management practices of the Group and a reflection of our unwavering commitment to reach our 2011 target of being a top-ten global mobile operator.”
He added, “Despite a challenging environment, foreign currency fluctuations and the competitive markets in which we operate, not to mention the vast investment in network expansion, the Group was still able to achieve impressive and realistic levels of revenues and profitability for the first six months of 2009.
In recent years, Zain has invested massively in network expansion, resulting in robust customer acquisition and healthy revenues, a strategy that Dr Al Barrak was keen to emphasize. “We expect to reap further financial rewards from these investments in the second half of 2009,” he said.
By Brian Adero
