BrazilProtiviti advises Zajil Telecom on its deal with Bahrain’s Kalaam
Kuwait-based information communications technology company Zajil Telecom has been acquired by Bahrain’s Kalaam Telecom, in a deal advised on by M&A consultants from Protiviti.
Fuelled by strong demand for IT services, Kalaam Telecom has acquired 100% of the shares of counterpart Zajil International Telecom Company. While financial terms have not been disclosed, the deal is estimated to be the largest ICT deal in the MENA region in the last three years.
“We are delighted to acquire Zajil, which is hailed as the leading internet service provider in Kuwait with a solid customer portfolio, encompassing some of the most prominent enterprises and government institutions. With this addition into our wider group, Kalaam is boosting its reliable, premium offering of disruptive industry technologies to its current and prospect customers,” said Nezar Al Saie, Chairman of Kalaam Telecom.
Together, Kalaam and Zajil will own a network comprising a 1,400 km fibre cable system across the GCC, and partly own a 15,000 km international fibre optic submarine cable system between Europe and India that links 12 countries across three continents. Meanwhile, the two companies will complement each other’s capabilities in ICT infrastructure, cloud, security, data center, internet of things and unified communications.
“The combined group (combined revenue of $100 million) will be able to offer redundant, secure and fast access to its enterprise and wholesale customers, for reaching their applications, data, workloads and other services on the cloud or for connecting their regional and international branches,” continued Al Saie.
Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri, Chairman of Zajil Telecom, added, “The combination of services and infrastructure brought together by the Zajil and Kalaam Telecom merger will result in the delivery of more advanced and industry-specific solutions for local, regional and international corporates, businesses and individual customers alike.”
Dealmakers
During the transaction, seller Zajil received dealmaking advice from Protiviti, which served as the exclusive M&A advisor. The consulting firm helped the Bahrain-based company with developing the transaction strategy, gaining insight in post-closing opportunities and risks, and with transaction support.
George Thomas, Managing Director of Transaction Services at Protiviti, said, “The deal presented some unique challenges, considering the extensive reach of Zajil and multiple regulatory environments. Protiviti's deal advisory team worked closely with the Zajil team as well as Kalaam, and their advisers to ensure an optimal deal structure, which was aligned to meet the aspirations of all parties involved.”
“ICT is one of the most competitive spaces globally – and Protiviti enjoys a leadership position in this space. Our experience helped us tremendously in helping Zajil materialise this deal,” said Sanjeev Agarwal, CEO of Protiviti in the Middle East.
Taking the time to state his appreciation on the collaboration, Al-Tuwaijri said: “I would like to thank Protiviti for being with us throughout this journey, and we are appreciative of their support and advice given to us during this process.”
