Zain officials decline comment on reports over Vevendi aquisition

Officials of Zain Ghana have declined comment on reports its parent company has been sold to French telecom firm, Vivendi.

The sale was first reported by a Nigerian Newspaper Business Day in June.

There was however no mention of the amount involved but latest leads put the figure at $12 billion.

The transaction was reportedly finalized over the weekend but when contacted the Chief Executive of Zain Ghana, Philip Sowah, would not confirm or deny the sale except to say that he would furnish the media with information about the transaction when it is available.

The Zain Group which is headquartered in Kuwait faces re-branding of its African operations if the reports are confirmed.

This may have particularly far reaching effects for the network in its Nigeria operations as it has re-branded too many times.

No reason was given for why Zain is looking to sell the African division.

The Kuwait based network operates in 16 African countries and seven in the Middle East.

Its African operations comprise Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, Sierra-Leone, Malawi, Chad, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Madagascar, Kenya, Uganda, Niger, and Gabon, among others.