As stated by Etisalat, the biggest telecommunications company, intents to close the deal of acquiring 46% of stake in Zain Group by the end of the month February who missed its original deadline of January 15. This bid of 1.7 dinars a share for 46 per cent stake was made by Etisalat in November 2010. According to Etisalat the delay was caused as it failed to acquire enough information from Zain to complete the process.

This delay has given rise to the news that this deal could be stolen by other company called Cukurova, a Turkish conglomerate that controls Turkcell, which made a $7.89bn bid for 29.9 per cent stake in Zain.

As reported by a major shareholder in Zain, Nasser al Kharafi, the chairman of the Kharafi Group, stated that the offer placed by Cukurova was not legal as it has not been posted on the Kuwait Stock Exchange.

Mohammed Omran, chairman of Etisalat said, “Etisalat is delighted with the recent progress in the due diligence process and wished to reach a final agreement as soon as practically possible.” The company stated that the progress is going on to secure financing for $12 billion deal, as the discussions are going on with 18 banks regarding the financing and stated it to be “Highly confidential”.