Q8NRI.com

Kuwait – Kuwait’s bourse plans to start a probe into suspicious trading in shares of Mobile Telecommunication Company, known as Zain, prior to the announcement of exclusive talks to sell the company’’s Africa assets, a daily local reported Tuesday, citing unnamed people with knowledge of the matter.The bourse will investigate whether leaked information about the deal was behind heavy trading in Zain shares in the day prior to the announcement, the paper reports.

Zain revealed last month that it had entered into exclusive talks till March 25 with India’’s Bharti Airtel to sell its Africa assets, excluding Sudan and Morocco, in a deal worth 10.7 billion US dollars.Kuwait bourse often suspends trading in company shares due to disclosures in the local press and failure to report earnings on time.

Kuwait, the only Gulf state without a regulator, plans to set up a capital market authority after getting parliament’’s nod for the bill.

Meanwhile, Bharti Enterprises Ltd. Managing Director Rajan Mittal said Tuesday he is “very, very confident” of Bharti Airtel Ltd. successfully closing a deal to buy most of the African assets of Kuwait’’s Mobile Telecommunications Company.

Bharti Enterprises is the parent of Bharti Airtel, which is in exclusive talks until March 25 to buy Zain’’s assets in Africa, except for those in Morocco and Sudan, for $10.7 billion, including debt.

Bharti Airtel is India’’s biggest mobileـphone operator by the number of subscribers. Mittal was talking to reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference.Bharti Airtel, on Wednesday said it had elevated Sanjay Kapoor as its Chief Executive for India and South Asia from March 1, a month earlier than previously announced.

Al-Watan