Zain Group to detail Vodafone partnership arrangement in early Autumn

Vodafone Group is said to be close to signing a marketing deal with Kuwait’s Zain Group that would see the Vodafone brand expand across the Middle-East.

Citing two people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported that the partnership would cover Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Bahrain.

Zain has previously been in a partnership arrangement with Vodafone, when it was known as MTC-Vodafone. That deal was signed in September 2002, and ended exactly five years later, in September 2007 when MTC rebranded as Zain, although the company is still listed as a partner on the Vodafone Group website.

Typically Vodafone partnerships see the networks co-branded while the network operator gains access to Vodafone roaming agreements and bulk-purchasing discounts. Speculation suggests that the new talks would see an apparently on-going partnership expanded to include the co-branding as well.

Zain Group has confirmed that it is advanced stages of negotiations with Vodafone over a strategic partnership agreement, stating it would provide more details on its partnership arrangement in early Autumn.

The agreement will be a non-equity deal.