The latest Zain Business News Iraq – Mobile phone service, networks, Asiacell, Korek Telecom & more – brought to you by Iraq Business News
By John Lee. Reuters reports that mobile phone company Zain is being sued for $4.5 billion over its 2007 acquisition of Iraqi telecom operator Iraqna. The company bought Iraqna for $1.2 billion from Egypt's Orascom Telecom after it dropped out of the running for a long-term mobile licence in Iraq. According to Reuters, the Kuwaiti firm […]
By John Lee. Kuwait-based Zain reported an 8 percent rise in first-quarter profit on Monday, as earnings from Iraq and its domestic business rose. According to the company's report: "Zain Iraq ... performed exceptionally well in the first quarter of 2014 with revenues of US$432.3 million, EBITDA of US$167.8 million and net income of US$78.3 […]
By John Lee. Qatari telecommunications operator Ooredoo, which owns the Iraqi mobile phone company Asiacell, has hit out at prices quoted by the Iraqi government for a long-delayed auction for 3G spectrum licences. Company CEO Dr Nasser Marafih (pictured) told Arabian Business: “The country needs it, the people need it. We are ready to deploy […]
By John Lee. Ahmed Alomary, a former commissioner at the Communications and Media Commission (CMC), told Reuters that Iraq plans to auction third-generation (3G) telecommunications licences for a minimum of $307 million each. Current 2G services are supplied by Zain Iraq (a unit of Kuwait's Zain), Asiacell (a subsidiary of Ooredoo) and Orange affiliate Korek, who […]
By John Lee. The head of Kuwait-based telecommunications company Zain Group has described Iraq as a "promising country" where he expects further growth. In an interview with Arabic TV business channel CNBC Arabiya, CEO Scott Gegenheimer (pictured) said: "Zain Iraq is a critical part of the Group representing 40% of our revenues and 31% of […]
By John Lee. Zain Iraq has moved a step closer to launching its mandatory initial public offering (IPO), by establishing a new holding company in Iraq through which it will list 25 percent of its shares on the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) towards the end of the year. The new company, named Al-Khatem Telecommunications, floated […]
By John Lee. Dow Jones reports that Zain Iraq has extended the time frame to launch an initial public offering (IPO) and list its shares on the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX). While Zain Group’s chief executive had previously stated that it would list the Iraq operation by the end of June, group chairman Asaad Ahmed […]
By Omar al-Shaher for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Mobile phone company Zain Iraq announced that it will put 25% of its shares on the Iraqi stock market, less than three weeks after its rival Asiacell placed a portion of […]
John Lee. Zain Iraq's Chief Financial Officer, Wael Ghanayem (pictured), has told Bloomberg that the company plans to list 25 percent of its shares on the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) by the end of June. But Geoffrey Batt, managing director of the $44 million Euphrates Iraq Fund, told the news agency: “A more realistic estimate is […]
The long-awaited first IPO of an Iraqi mobile phone provider has finally come to pass, with the commencement of trading in the shares of Asiacell on the Baghdad stock exchange this week. The fundraising -- described by our Expert Blogger Mark DeWeaver as "a Nobel prize-winning IPO" -- was a major achievement, effectively doubling the […]
By Karin Laub, The Associated Press. Used with permission by Iraq Business News. An Iraqi telecom company raised nearly $1.3 billion Sunday on Baghdad's small stock exchange in one of the region's biggest share offers in years — a sign of investor confidence in the fledgling private sector despite violence that still plagues the country. […]
By Sherif Salem. While attending an investment conference in Erbil in November, I was struck by a theme that came through in almost all my meetings with listed-company executives: a desire to engage with foreign companies. It seems as if expertise is more in demand than capital as companies look to grow and take advantage […]
