Kingdom extends Zain Saudi offer to Feb.13

RIYADH: Saudi investment firm Kingdom Holding said on Sunday it had extended its offer to buy the Saudi telecoms assets of Kuwait-based operator Zain to Feb. 13.

Kingdom, owned by Saudi billionaire and Citigroup investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, made a non-binding offer on Jan. 31 for Zain's 25-percent stake in Zain Saudi

The offer was set to expire on Sunday and parent firm Zain had requested a one-week extension to mull the offer, Kuwaiti newspaper al Qabas said earlier in an unsourced report.

The Kuwaiti telcoms company must sell its Zain Saudi stake to clear the way for the UAE's Etisalat to complete its $12 billion bid for a controlling 46-percent stake in Zain. Kingdom, which has not said what it would pay to buy the stake, said in a statement the offer would be extended by a week. The investment firm is in financing talks with banks for its proposed acquisition of the Saudi assets, a Kingdom executive said in published remarks last Tuesday.