Sunday, 13 March 2011 at 13:12, Reuters
Kingdom Holding surges after it makes a joint bid with Bahrain Telecommunications Co for a quarter-stake in telecoms operator Zain Saudi, helping Saudi Arabia's index rise for a seventh session. Kingdom climbs 8.1 per cent and Zain Saudi rises 7.6 per cent, but Batelco is unchanged.
Kingdom and Batelco had previously had separate bids for the Zain Saudi stake turned down by parent Zain, which must sell its holding to complete its own $12 billion takeover by UAE's Etisalat. Kingdom owner Prince Alwaleed bin Talal may mount a takeover bid for Zain itself, a Kuwait newspaper reported on Sunday. "To buy a controlling stake in Zain would cost around $12bn and I'm not sure Kingdom has the financial flexibility to do this," says a regional telecoms analyst. Saudi Arabia's index climbs 0.9 per cent to 6,354 points.
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