Suspicious Zain trading to be investigated

The Kuwait Stock Exchange plans to probe heavy trading of Zain stock that occurred the day prior to the announcement of Bharti Airtel entering talks to purchase Zain’s African assets, reports local press. It is questioned whether leaked information influenced stock trading before the deal was officially announced and benefited certain parties.

Zain confirmed on February 14 that it had received an offer from Bharti Airtel for US$10.7 billion for the African operations, excluding Sudan and Morocco. The two companies are in exclusive talks until March 25.

Zain Africa, formerly branded Celtel, includes approximately 42 million subscribers and represents around 58 per cent of the operator’s customers as of end-September 2009. Bharti Airtel is India’s largest operator and has almost 125 million subscribers across India.