DUBAI: Bahrain Telecomm- unications (Batelco) will take majority control of Kuwait’s Qualitynet after agreeing to double its stake in the Internet provider, Batelco said yesterday.
Batelco will buy 46 percent of Qualitynet from Ali Al Ghanim & Sons for an undisclosed fee, raising the Bahraini firm’s holding to 90 percent from 44 percent.
The deal will likely be concluded in March, the company said in a statement yesterday.
Kuwait’s Ministry of Communications ultimately owns and operates the country’s fixed-line infrastructure, with about four major Internet service providers including Qualitynet paying the government to use it.
Qualitynet’s 2013 revenue was KD31.3m, down 8.9 percent from 2012, which provided Batelco with a profit of KD2.41m, the latter’s annual report shows.
Reuters
