Milestones
1983: MTC established as the first mobile telecom company in the region
1986: Introduced ETACS in Kuwait
1994: Introduced GSM in Kuwait. One of the 1st to do so in the region
1999: Among the 1st to introduce prepaid services in the region
2000: Kuwait mobile market opened up to competition
2001: Government of Kuwait reduces stake from 49% to 25%
September 2002: Branding agreement with Vodafone in Kuwait- operation branded as MTC-Vodafone
January 2003: Acquired 91.5% of Fastlink- Jordan’s leading mobile operator for US$424 million taking total holding to 96.5%
April 2003: Awarded 2nd GSM license in Bahrain- operation branded as MTC Vodafone
December 2003: Awarded one of three GSM licenses in Iraq –operation branded as MTC Atheer
December 2003: Bahrain operation 1st to launch 3G nationwide in the region
April 2004: Awarded management agreement for one of Lebanon’s mobile operations - operation branded as MTC Touch
March 2005: Entered into agreement to acquire Celtel Africa for US$3.36 billion
May 2005: Acquisition of 85% of Celtel shares for US$2.84 billion completed
November 16, 2005: MTC completes 100% capital increase through rights issue raising $2.3 billion to fund future expansion
December 13, 2005: MTC subsidiary Celtel acquires Madacom, an operator based in Madagascar with over 200,000 customers
February 6, 2006: MTC subsidiary Celtel acquires the remaining 61% of Mobitel in Sudan from Sudatel in deal valued $1.332 billion, thus taking ownership to 100%
February 15, 2006: MTC launches a first of its kind research report “Socio-Economic Impact of Mobile Phones in the Arab World”
May 21, 2006: MTC first in the region to launch 3.5G (HSDPA) commercially in Bahrain
May 31, 2006 : MTC subsidiary Celtel acquires a controlling stake of 65% in Vmobile, one of Nigeria’s leading mobile telecom operators with over 5 million customers for US$1.005 billion
June 30, 2006: MTC Group of companies half-year consolidated revenues reach KD 501.32 million (USD 1.72 billion) for the 6 months ended June 30, 2006, an increase of 121% over the same period in 2005 and consolidated net income of KD 254.06 million (USD 871.55 million), an increase of 55% compared to the same period last year.
July 27, 2006: MTC signs the general syndication agreement for a US$ 4 billion credit facility that will be used to fund MTC’s future acquisitions and general corporate needs
Sept 27, 2006: MTC subsidiary Celtel International, the leading pan-African mobile telecommunications operator launched One Network, the first ever borderless mobile network in the world allowing customers to move freely across geographic borders without roaming call surcharges and without having to pay to receive incoming calls.
Oct 21, 2006: MTC market capitalization exceeds USD $15 billion
December 13, 2006: MTC raises USD$1.2 billion in Murahaba facility from 29 leading international financial institutions
December 31, 2006: MTC Group of companies full-year consolidated revenues reach KD 1.21 billion (USD 4.167 billion) for the 12 months ended December 31, 2006, an increase of 109% over the same period in 2005 and consolidated net income of KD 305.3.06 million (USD 1.051 Billion), an increase of 65% compared to the same period last year.
January 30, 2007: MTC launches ACE -an implementation strategy to realize the target of the 3x3x3 vision. ACE seeks to extract superior value from existing assets through three main thrusts: Accelerating the growth in Africa; Consolidating the existing assets; and Expanding into adjacent markets. Through implementation of the ACE strategy, MTC’s new goals by the year 2011 are to attain a US$ 6 Billion EBITDA exceeding 70 million customers and to become one of the top ten leading telecom companies in the world by market capitalization.
March 25, 2007: MTC's market capitalization exceeds USD$20 billion, AGM approves a one for two stock dividend (1:2) plus a 100 fils cash dividend.
June 30, 2007: MTC Group of companies half-year consolidated revenues reach US$2.77 billion and net revenues of US$515 million. MTC’s market capitalization exceeds US$30 billion.
July 7, 2007: MTC Consortium’s official notification to establish 3rd mobile operator in KSA
August 17, 2007: MTC Atheer secures 15-year nationwide Iraq mobile licence for US$1.25 billion.
September 8, 2007: MTC Group's master-brand and four operations in Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and Sudan rebrand to Zain.
October 22, 2007: Celtel International, a subsidiary of Zain announced it has signed an agreement to acquire 75% of Western Telesystems Ltd (Westel) from the Government of Ghana for USD 120 million. The Government of Ghana remains a shareholder in Westel with a 25% holding through the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation.
November 22, 2007: Zain subsidiary Celtel International announces the extension of ‘One Network’, the world’s first borderless mobile network in Africa to an additional six countries to include Burkina Faso, Chad, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan. These countries now join the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in the network which was initially launched in September 2006 and has been expanded due to increased demand. The extension of this technological break-through now offers the possibility for nearly half of Africa’s population to make calls at local rates across 12 countries throughout the continent.
December 1, 2007: Mobile Telecommunications Company K.S.C. ("Zain") announced today that it has concluded a binding agreement for the purchase of 100% of the share capital of Iraqna Company for Mobile Phone Services Ltd. ("Iraqna") a subsidiary of Orascom Telecom Holding for US$ 1.2 billion. This acquisition will consolidate MTC-Atheer’s market-leading position in Iraq giving rise to a combined customer base of more than 7 million customers.
January 30, 2008: Zain announces that in the fiscal year 2007 it recorded the highest ever net profits in the history of Kuwait's private sector history. Zain recorded consolidated revenues of USD 5.91 billion (KD1.677 billion) for 2007, an increase of 32% compared to 2006. The consolidated EBITDA increased by 25% compared to last year and reached USD 2.56 billion (KD 725.34 million). Zain also announced a milestone consolidated net income of US$1.130 billion (KD320.45 million) an increase of 11% on 2006. Active Customers grew impressively and reached 42.4 million (inclusive of 3 million Iraqna customers, acquired on December 31, 2007), an increase of 57% on 2006.
April 14, 2008: Zain has achieved another first by bringing its groundbreaking borderless “One Network” mobile service to four countries in the Middle East. This service, which made telecom history when it was launched in Africa, today allows Zain’s 14 million customers in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan and Sudan to be part of a pan Middle East mobile community, providing travelling Zain customers the opportunity to communicate between these countries and be treated as local customers in terms of pricing, while using their home network service.
July 26, 2008: For the first half of 2008, Zain Group recorded consolidated revenues of US$ 3.488 billion. The company’s consolidated EBITDA reached US$ 1.305 billion. Zain consolidated net profits reached US$ 551.5 million. Year on year customer growth across the two continents where Zain operates was 58% with the Zain Group serving 50.74 million managed active customers at 30 June, 2008.
August 1, 2008: Zain today announced it has re-branded its entire African operations from Celtel to Zain. The move coincides with the linking of the world’s first borderless mobile service ‘One Network’ across two continents now inclusive of 15 countries covering a population of over 450 million.
August 26, 2008: Zain announces the launch of commercial services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. With the launch, the Kingdom joins and connects to Group’s renowned and world’s first borderless mobile service ‘One Network’ offering Zain customers in 16 countries favorable rates for cross-border communications.
September 20, 2008: Zain announces the successful completion of its capital increase raising US$4.49 billion (KWD1.2 billion) with 99% of all shareholders subscribing. This was the largest ever capital raising in Kuwait’s history. The proceeds of this capital increase will be used to finance future strategic expansion plans and meet financial commitments.
December 15, 2008: Zain announces the commencement of commercial services in Ghana with the launch of the first 3.5G network on the continent outside South Africa with US$ 420 million invested in network infrastructure.
March 1, 2009: Zain announces its consolidated financial results for the year ending December 31,2008 with consolidated revenues of US$ 7.44 billion, an increase of 26% compared to 2007. The company’s consolidated EBITDA increased by 15% for the same period to reach US$ 2.78 billion. Consolidated net profits reached US$ 1.2 billion, an increase of 6% on 2007. The earnings per share was US$0.33 and the shareholders equity was up 36% to US $8.69 billion. Year on year customer growth across the two continents in which Zain operates was 50% with the Zain Group serving 63.54 million managed active customers at 31 December, 2008.
March 14, 2009: Zain in a 50/50 partnership with Al Ajial Investment Fund Holding (“Al Ajial”) has agreed to invest through a newly established joint venture “Zain Al Ajial” an amount of MAD 2.850 billion (USD 324 million) in return for 31% of Wana Corporate SA (“Wana”), the third mobile telecom operator in Morocco.
May 18, 2009: Jordan, Mobile Telecommunications Company KSC (“Zain”) and Palestinian Telecommunications Company Plc (“Paltel”) have entered into an agreement for a share-for-share exchange, which will see Zain take a majority interest in Paltel with an equity shareholding of 56.53% in exchange for Paltel owning 100% of Zain Jordan. Paltel is a publicly-listed entity on the Palestinian Stock Exchange and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. The merger will set the current Paltel shareholders equity position in both Paltel and its newly acquired subsidiary, Zain Jordan at 41.43%.
July 21, 2009: Zain announces its consolidated financial results for the half-year ending 30 June 2009. The results showed significant growth in many key indicators recording impressive consolidated revenues of KWD 1.16 billion (US$4.014 billion), an increase of 24.1% compared to H1-2008. The company’s consolidated EBITDA increased by 46.3% for the same period to reach KWD 512.2 million (US$1.77 billion). Consolidated net income reached KWD 154.5 million (US$533.5 million), an increase of 4.4% on H1-2008. The earnings per share for the six month period were US$0.14. Year-on-year customer growth on the two continents across which Zain operates was 37%, while serving 69.5 million active customers.
November 15, 2009: For the first nine months of 2009, Zain Group recorded impressive consolidated revenues of KWD 1.78 billion (US$6.169 billion), an increase of 24% compared to the first nine months of 2008. The company’s consolidated EBITDA increased by 37% for the same period to reach KWD 757.3 million (US$2.624 billion) with EBIT rising 33% to reach KWD 454.9 million (US$1.576 billion). Consolidated Net Income reached KWD 195.7 million (US$677.1 million), a decrease of 17%. The earnings per share for the nine months period stood at KWD 0.051 fils (US$0.18). Year-on-year customer growth on the two continents across which Zain operates was 28%, whereby the company is serving 71.8 million managed active customers as of September 30, 2009.
