Court Dismisses $4.5bn Claim Against Zain

By John Lee.

An Iraqi court has reportedly rejected a $4.5-billion (5.4 trillion Iraqi dinar) lawsuit against Zain.

The case centers around Zain's $1.2-billion acquisition of Iraqna from Egypt's Orascom Telecom in December 2007, after the Egyptian company dropped out of the running for a long-term mobile licence.

According to Reuters, the Kuwaiti firm then merged its Iraqi unit, Atheer, with Iraqna and renamed the entity Zain Iraq.

The unnamed claimants, understood to be shareholders in rival mobile operator Korek, filed a lawsuit last year claiming that Zain’s takeover had stopped the firm buying Iraqna, causing it losses of $4.5 billion.

The court also dismissed the applicants' right to appeal.

In a separate judgment, a court also imposed a fine of $100 million on Zain Iraq for using a range of mobile phone numbers without the telecom regulator’s permission; Zain can still appeal against this penalty.

(Source: Reuters)

(Court image via Shutterstock)