Kuwait's Zain to buy Etisalat's stake in Sudan's Canar

Kuwait-based telecom company Zain has signed a share purchase agreement with Abu Dhabi-listed Etisalat Group, which allows Zain to buy Etisalat’s 92.3 percent stake in Sudanese fixed line operator Canar Telecommunication Co. for AED 349.6 million.

The deal is subject to approval from the Sudanese authorities, Etisalat said in a statement to Abu Dhabi bourse on Monday.

The agreement will help enhance Zain's presence in Sudan, where it is among the top mobile operator by subscribers and has been looking to add a fixed-line license.

According to a Reuters report, Sudan accounted for 19 percent of Zain's revenue and 26 percent of its subscribers in 2015. The firm had a 42 percent mobile market share in 2015, the report noted.

Zain Sudan reported a 77 percent rise in 2015 profit to 1.04 billion Sudanese pounds. In dollar terms, the profit rose by 66 percent.

Etisalat took a stake in Canar in 2004 and three years later spent AED 584 million to double its holding. In 2012, the company took an impairment of AED 459 million on Canar due to local inflation, currency fluctuations and difficult economic and political conditions, Reuters said.