Competition Protection Authority Receives Zain and Qatar’s “Irid” Request to Complete Economic Concentration Process

Kuwait’s Competition Protection Authority announced on Sunday that it had received a request to complete an economic concentration transaction. According to a post on the social media platform X, the request concerns approval for joint control of Mina Infra B.V. (Netherlands), through Zain’s acquisition of a 50% stake in the company, making it equally owned by Ooredoo (Qatar) and Zain Infra, the modern telecommunications services subsidiary of Mobile Telecommunications Company (Kuwait). The Authority added that this involves Mina Infra B.V. (Netherlands) owning the towers of both Ooredoo (Qatar) and Mobile Telecommunications Company (Kuwait) in Kuwait and Qatar through their operating companies. It is worth noting that Law No. 72 of 2020 concerning the Protection of Competition defined economic concentration as a permanent change in control within the relevant market. Such concentration arises in cases of merger, acquisition, or the establishment of a partnership between two or more persons who carry out economic activities independently on a permanent basis. According to the latest published data, Mobile Telecommunications Company reported a net profit of 24.80 million Kuwaiti dinars during the first half of this year, while Qatari Ooredoo recorded a profit of 1.85 billion Qatari riyals during the same period.