The latest Zain Business News Iraq – Mobile phone service, networks, Asiacell, Korek Telecom & more – brought to you by Iraq Business News
Reuters reports that Qatar Telecom (Qtel) is to double its stake in Asiacell, Iraq's second biggest mobile operator, to 60 percent for $1.47 billion. Qtel will initially increase its stake to 53.9 percent from 30 percent, with a further increase pending Iraqi government and regulatory approval. Qtel did not identify the sellers of the stake, but […]
Korek Telecom hopes to launch a third-generation (3G) network later this year, but is waiting for the Iraqi government to allocate the necessary spectrum, the operator's chief executive said on Wednesday, according to Reuters. The company, in which France Telecom and Kuwait's Agility own stakes, claims a 70 percent market share in Kurdistan. Yet its […]
PRweek reports that the Iraqi unit of Kuwaiti telecoms company Zain has hired PR agency support in advance of its listing on the Iraq Stock Exchange. The firm has been planning an initial public offering (IPO) in Iraq since the summer and has asked London-based M:Communications to support communications relating to the listing process. M: […]
In one of the largest deals of its kind in the Middle East, Zain, one of Iraq’s leading mobile telecommunications providers, has signed a US$650 million five-year network outsourcing agreement with Ericsson, the world's leading provider of telecommunications technology and services and its local partner SIM (Service in Motion). Under this agreement, Ericsson will optimize, […]
Foreign investors’ appetite for Iraq’s stock market is rising before planned IPOs by the country’s three mobile telephone operators, but the fledgling market’s small size means it may struggle to cope with the listings, according to a report from Gulf News. The Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) is an outpost of private sector business in Iraq, […]
Iraq's stock exchange market will double its capitalization to $8 billion once the three main mobile-phone companies operating in the country are listed, according to Taha A. Abdulsalam, chief executive of the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX). The three mobile phone operators, Asiacell, Korek Telecom, and Zain Iraq, are required by the terms to their licences […]
Asiacell has selected HSBC and Morgan Stanley to manage its initial public offering (IPO) on the Iraqi bourse, according to Bloomberg. Chief Executive Officer Diar Ahmed told the news agency that the company will offer 25 percent of its shares, but did not specify when. The company, which is an affiliate of Qatar Telecom, is […]
Iraq's three mobile operators are unlikely to conduct initial public offerings until the middle of next year and will not be penalised for missing an August 2011 deadline, the country's regulator said on Thursday, according to a report from Reuters. Under the terms of the 15-year, $1.25-billion, operating licences they secured in 2007, Korek, Zain […]
The mobile phone operators are finally getting their IPOs [initial public offerings - A company's first offering of common stock to the public] organized. Recently Asiacell and Zain began conversions to joint stock ownership. Zain is also reported to have engaged Citibank and BNP Paribas to work on valuation. So far as I know, Korek […]
Iraq's three main mobile phone companies - Zain Iraq, Asiacell and Korek - appear unlikely to meet a month-end deadline to list on the local stock exchange, raising the chances of them being penalised, according to Reuters. The companies are required by Iraqi law to launch initial public offerings on the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) by […]
The parliamentary hearing of an investigation into five million unlicensed mobile phone lines distributed by Iraqi telecom giant Zain Iraq has been postponed because of “political pressure”, alleged Ihsan al-Awwadi of the parliamentary communications and information commission. Scheduled to be held on Monday, the hearing to confirm the allegations against Zain has been delayed until […]
Iraqi operators Asiacell, Korek Telecom and Zain are facing a mandatory deadline for an initial public offering of stock, with reports stating that the companies have to sell-off a 25 percent holding on the local stock exchange within four years of acquiring their licences, according to Mobile Business Briefing. This means that the companies must […]
