Zain Saudi still mulling telecom tower sale, says Kabbani

Mobile Telecommunications Company Saudi Arabia (Zain Saudi) has not yet taken a final decision about selling its telecommunication towers and no agreement has been reached in this regard, chief executive Hassan Kabbani told CNBC Arabia on Sunday.

The sale could be fruitful for the telco, as the proceeds would be used to improve the telecom operator’s balance sheet.

Zain’s board of directors will approve the deal only if it delivers attractive returns to the company and its shareholders, Kabbani added.

In March, the company’s chief executive said Zain was considering joint ownership or a sale of its 7,500 mobile transmitter towers to cut operating expenses and repay debts, Argaam earlier reported.

Recently, Kuwait-based Zain Group’s chief executive Scott Gegenheimer said his company expected to sell its transmitter towers in Saudi Arabia for over $500 million (SAR 1.88 billion) in the first half of 2017.

Zain Group owns a 37 percent stake in the Saudi unit.