Mubasher: Oman Telecommunications (Omantel) on Wednesday announced that it plans to fund its acquisition of shares from Mobile Telecommunications (Zain) through a bridging loan, if the former wins the treasury shares auction to be held on 24 August.

The loan would later be substituted by a long-term loan or other financing tools or debt instruments, Muscat-listed Omantel said in in a bourse statement.

Moody’s and S&P confirmed that Omantel’s credit rating would stay the same after applying for the acquisition, the company added.

Boursa Kuwait decided to hold an auction to sell 425.71 million of Zain’s shares, representing 9.838% of its capital, with an initial price of 600 fils per share.

On 10 August, Zain had signed an agreement to sell 425.71 million treasury shares to Omantel for a total value of KWD 255 million.

Zain’s capital amounts to KWD 432.71 million, spread across around 4.33 billion shares at a nominal value of 100 fils per share, with 425.71 million shares as treasury stocks.