VIVA Bahrain and Kuwait Finance House - Bahrain (KFH-Bahrain) have entered into a definitive agreement whereby VIVA Bahrain will acquire the 100% share in Menatelecom, the internet service provider, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of KFH-Bahrain. The parties intend to complete the transaction in early January 2018.
Announcing the transaction, VIVA Bahrain's CEO Ulaiyan Al Wetaid said, "We are excited to announce the acquisition of Menatelecom, a strategic milestone for us in Bahrain’s highly dynamic and competitive telecommunications market. The acquisition will significantly enhance VIVA’s position in both the consumer broadband and enterprise markets; it will help us complement our offering by leveraging the strong capabilities of Menatelecom in the broadband segment."
VIVA has always shown commitment in investing in Bahrain’s economy and has contributed to the country’s social progress. VIVA strives to deliver innovative services, seamless connectivity and value-for-money and the acquisition of Menatelecom will help the operator in implementing its growth strategy. In addition, it will allow VIVA to enhance key technical capabilities and foster further product and service innovation.
"While we have achieved strong and sustainable growth in the Kingdom of Bahrain over the past seven years, Menatelecom’s successful position in the home broadband segment will be a key growth driver for VIVA," Al Wetaid added.
Managing Director and CEO of KFH-Bahrain, Abdulhakeem Al-Khayyat congratulated VIVA Bahrain for its acquisition of Menatelecom and highlighted how the company was established at first as a start-up by KFH-Bahrain and then has developed into one of the leading telecom service provider in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
"As the case may be from one investment to another for a financial investor, KFH-Bahrain believed that it is time to exit to an industry player like VIVA which is a very capable telecom player not only in Bahrain but across the region," he said.
"Not only Menatelecom has a valuable asset, but also, more importantly a capable human resource team which competed well in a highly competitive market and, therefore, I would like to thank them for their efforts during KFH's investment tenure," he added. "It gives us great pleasure in selling this company to a capable player VIVA who believes in the potential contribution of Menatelecom for further growth and we truly wish VIVA the very best with this acquisition."
