JEDDAH: Bahrain's Batelco said it and partner Kingdom Holding Co. are still aiming to close a deal to acquire mobile provider Zain's Saudi ope rations by May even though a related deal fell through. Batelco CEO Peter Kaliaropoulos said the companies' advisers are currently working on sorting out the due diligence process of examining the unit's books. Emirati telecom Etisalat dropped its bid for a large stack of Kuwait-based Zain Saturday. Zain's sale of the 25 percent stake in the Saudi unit that bears its name was necessary for the larger Etisalat deal to go through. Batelco and Kingdom Holding are offering $950 million for Zain's 25 percent stake in Zain Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Zain has appointed Credit Agricole as its consultant to sell a stake in affiliate Zain Saudi, an unidentified source said Wednesday. On March 15, Zain conditionally accepted an offer from joint bidders KHC and Batelco to buy a 25 percent stake for $950 million in Zain Saudi. "The bank began cooperating with the bidders' consultant to arrange for due dilegence after certain procedures are prepared for first," Al-Jarida said. A Zain source told Reuters that a preliminary contract is expected to be signed by early next week. "The preliminary contract will be signed within the end of this week or beginning of next week.”
