Competition Authority Approves 4 Concentrations, Including One for Zain and Areeba

Kuwait’s Competition Protection Authority approved four economic concentration transactions and received a new application for approval of another transaction. The approvals included a conditional approval for the joint control by Kuwaiti mobile telecommunications company Zain and Qatari company Ooredoo over the Dutch company Mina Infra. Under the Mina Infra deal, Ooredoo will acquire a 50% stake in the Dutch company, making it equally owned by Ooredoo and Zain Infra, a subsidiary of the mobile telecommunications company, with Mina Infra owning the telecommunications towers of both parties in Kuwait and Qatar through their operating companies. The Authority also approved an economic concentration between Japanese company Toyota Motor Corporation and German company Celentrik, under which Toyota will acquire a 33.33% stake in the German company, while Swedish company Aktiebolaget Volvo and German company Daimler Truck each retain a 33.33% stake, thereby establishing joint control over the company.