KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Kharafi Group and a consortium led by India’s Vavasi Group have named advisers in a deal to sell a 46% stake in telecoms firm Zain, a Kharafi official said, in a sign that the deal was ongoing.

Japanese bank Nomura has been named the adviser to the investor consortium led by India’s Vavasi Group, which is seeking to buy a stake in Zain from

Kuwait’s Kharafi Group, Kharafi Group vice-chairman Bader al-Kharafi told Reuters on Tuesday.

Kharafi Group has named BNP Paribas as its adviser in the sale, he said.

Shares in Zain have fallen by around 30% since Kharafi first unveiled the sale plans in September, in a sign that some investors doubt the deal will go through. The shares closed 4.2% higher on Tuesday at  one dinar (RM11.82).

“We have received an official letter from Nomura that it was appointed as lead financial adviser for Vavasi and other parties for the Zain deal,” Kharafi said.

“Talks for the Zain sale are still ongoing. We are talking with Vavasi as the leader of the consortium.”

The group will pay two dinars a share for Zain, Kharafi has said, which would value the stake in the Arab world’s third largest telecommunications company at about US$13.7 billion (RM46.2 billion), making it one of the biggest overseas acquisitions of a Gulf region company.

Kharafi has said previously that the buying consortium included Indian state-run regional telecoms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, or BSNL, and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam, as well as Malaysian billionaire Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary.

On Monday, India’s Junior Telecoms Minister Gurudas Kamath told parliament that BSNL and MTNL have not joined a consortium seeking to acquire Zain. — Reuters

This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, November 26, 2009.