Processing .....please wait.. 
The article has been forwarded.... 
BSNL and MTNL eyeing controlling stake in Kuwait's Zain
By siliconindia
Bangalore: India's state owned telecom operators, MTNL and BSNL are mulling over the purchase of a controlling stake in Kuwait's biggest telecom operator, Zain for $14 Billion.
S. Behura, Secretary at the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), confirmed that the state owned operators had been approached, reports Mint. However, BSNL and MTNL are yet to take a decision on the acquisition. BSNL and MTNL are among a proposed group of investors led by the little known Vavasi Group and Malaysia based billionaire Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, said another DoT official on condition of anonymity.
The Indian firms have said that participation in the consortium buying the 46 percent stake in Zain has not yet been decided, but that MTNL and BSNL are always on the lookout for new opportunities to expand operations.
Farid Arifuddin, Managing Director of Vavasi Telegence has said that MTNL and BSNL are yet to be brought into the board. The state owned firms have the money to spend on acquisitions. While BSNL has cash reserves of around 
37,000 crore ($7.6 billion), MTNL has 11,000 crore ($2.22 billion).
However no decision has been taken on how the stake will be divided between the partners. Discussions have been on for seven months now. Zain is in talks to sell the stake, Bader Al-Kharafi, a top Executive of Kuwait's Al-Kharafi Group, the largest private shareholder in Zain said. The sale would be carried out in four months and would include the approximately 20 percent Al-Kharafi holding along with stakes belonging to others.
Last week, Zain shareholders abolished the decades old restrictions on ownership to enable foreign investors to take up a controlling stake in the Emirate's oldest mobile operator. The company has operations in 24 countries with almost 70 million subscribers in the Middle East and Africa including countries like Bahrain which enjoy a 199 percent telecom penetration to Niger which has 14 percent. The firm has ARPU (Average Revenue per User) ranging from $3 in Ghana to $54 in Kuwait.
37,000 crore ($7.6 billion), MTNL has 11,000 crore ($2.22 billion).
However no decision has been taken on how the stake will be divided between the partners. Discussions have been on for seven months now. Zain is in talks to sell the stake, Bader Al-Kharafi, a top Executive of Kuwait's Al-Kharafi Group, the largest private shareholder in Zain said. The sale would be carried out in four months and would include the approximately 20 percent Al-Kharafi holding along with stakes belonging to others.
Last week, Zain shareholders abolished the decades old restrictions on ownership to enable foreign investors to take up a controlling stake in the Emirate's oldest mobile operator. The company has operations in 24 countries with almost 70 million subscribers in the Middle East and Africa including countries like Bahrain which enjoy a 199 percent telecom penetration to Niger which has 14 percent. The firm has ARPU (Average Revenue per User) ranging from $3 in Ghana to $54 in Kuwait.