Zain offloads its remaining 20% stake in Golden Lattice to PIF: Zain KSA has offloaded its remaining 20% stake in mobile tower infrastructure provider Golden Lattice Investment Company (GLI) to the Public Investment Fund, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul on Monday. GLI operates more than 8k towers across the kingdom.

PIF paid a healthy premium: The Mobile Telecommunication Company Saudi Arabia, as Zain is formally known, netted SAR 726 mn — that’s a 20% premium to the SAR 605 mn book value of the stake.

Where are the funds going? The telecoms giant plans to use the proceeds from the transaction to fund investment and its core business, it said.

BACKGROUND- Tadawul-listed Zain KSA sold GLI, known at the time as Zain Business, to the PIF last year for USD 800 mn in a transaction that gave Zain SAR 2.4 bn in cash and a 20% stake in GLI. The PIF received at the time a call option that allowed it to buy back Zain KSA’s stake in GLI.

MARKET REAX:Zain shares fell 0.7% to SAR 14.1 at yesterday’s close.

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