KUWAIT CITY, Jul 24, 2012 (AFP) - Kuwait Zain telecom said on Tuesday it has raised its stake in Zain Saudi Arabia from 25 percent to 37.045 percent following a capital restructuring.
Zain Telecom paid $347 million to buy shares in a rights issue launched by Zain Saudi Arabia as part of a capital restructuring process by the loss-making unit, a statement posted on the Kuwait Stock Exchange website said.
The $1.6 billion rights issue closed on Saturday after it was 105 percent over subscribed.
Ahead of the restructuring, Zain Saudi Arabia lowered its capital from 14 billion riyals ($3.73 billion) to 4.8 billion riyals ($1.28 billion) to alleviate accumulated losses of around $2.6 billion.
Zain Saudi Arabia began operation in 2008 as the kingdom's third mobile operator a year after Kuwait Zain and partners paid $6.1 billion for its licence.
Since then, Zain Saudi has been posting losses. In the second quarter this year, it posted a loss of $105 million compared to $119.5 million a year earlier.
oh/ak/al
