KUWAIT, June 8 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's Zain telecom said on Tuesday it has finished the sale of its operations in 15 African nations to India's Bharti Airtel, and has received USD 7.86 billion out of a total of USD 10.7 billion dollars.
It will also receive USD 400 million dollars more within 12 months, after completing "certain official requirements" and another USD 700 million one year from now.
"I announce here today that we have completed the deal to sell African operations to Bharti Airtel," Zain CEO Nabil bin Salamah told a news conference at the group's head office. But, the sale does not include the company's units in Sudan and Morocco, he said.
He added that the proceeds of the deal would be used in the repayment of the group's USD 4-billion debt from local and world banks, while the remaining amount would go to its operational policy in the coming stage.
Zain, in which the Kuwaiti government holds a 24.6 percent stake, expects to post a net profit of 3.3 billion dollars from the sale.
Last month, the company shareholders approved a recommendation to distribute 2.26 billion dollars in dividends for 2009 even though net profit slumped 39.4 percent to USD 677 million. - Kuna