Qtel, Zain and other leading telcos compete for Middle East deal of the year 2011 award

April 26, 2011 - PRLog -- The shortlist for the Telecom Deal of the Year Middle East 2011 Award has been announced  with over 14 billion dollars worth of deals involving Omani operator Nawras, Wataniya Palestine, Viva Kuwati, Qatar Telecom (Qtel) and Zain.

The annual Award, which will be presented on May 9 at the Gala Dinner of the TMT Finance Middle East 2011 Conference (www.tmtfinance.com/me ) at the Ritz Carlton Dubai International Financial Centre, celebrates the outstanding transaction of the year by a Middle East telecom company and its investment banking partners.

Despite challenging financing conditions, a wide variety of transactions are represented on this year’s short list including two successful initial public offerings, a jumbo US$10.7bn sale of assets; a double bond issue and an innovative trade payable financing facility.

The final shortlist for Telecom Deal of the Year Middle East 2011 is:

•   Nawras IPO raises US$472m
Advised by Morgan Stanley and Bank Muscat as joint lead managers and bookrunners
•   Zain sells African operations to Bahrti for US$10.7bn
Advised by BNP Paribas and UBS
•   Wataniya Palestine IPO raises US$53m
Advised by HSBC Middle East Ltd as global coordinator and bookrunner, Arab Bank Group as regional coordinator
•   Viva Kuwait agrees US$294m Trade Payable Facility with Huawei
No financial advisers
•   Qtel raises two part US$2.75bn bond issue
Joint Arrangers were Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, QNB, RBS and Standard Chartered

“These deals are especially impressive because it has been such an exceptionally challenging 12 months for raising financing and completing mergers and acquisitions,” commented Dominic Lowndes, Editor of TMT Finance News Alert and Managing Director of BroadGroup TMT Ventures, who will be leading the judging panel. “All the nominated companies and investment banks deserve recognition for successfully completing these complex transactions in such a difficult economic climate.”

The remaining shortlists for this year’s TMT Finance Middle East Awards will be announced later this week.  Other categories include: Mobile Operator of the Year; M&A Adviser; Broadband Operator; Outstanding TMT Leader (CEO); Debt Bank; Legal Adviser and Growth Story. For more details on the Awards process and the Judging Panel go to www.tmtfinance.com/awards2011/

The TMT Finance and Investment Middle East 2011 Conference (www.tmtfinance.com/me), which takes place at the Ritz Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre on May 9-10, is the largest annual gathering of telecom and finance professionals in the region.

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) is the Main Event Sponsor, with Booz & Company, Clifford Chance , SNR Denton, Pricewaterhousecoopers and Capital MS&L.  Media Partners include Thomson Reuters, Al Alrabiya News Channel, the National, TMT Finance News Alert, Onda Analytics, Business Intelligence Middle East, Telecom Review, Middle East Monitor, Juniper Research, Nooz, Comm, Wealth Matrix, Middle East IT Insight and Dubib.
For programme timings and speakers visit http://www.tmtfinance.com/middleeast/programme/
To register for the Conference and the Awards Dinner visit http://www.tmtfinance.com/middleeast/register/

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BroadGroup TMT Ventures provides specialist news, research and strategic networking opportunities for executives, bankers, investors, and professionals active in the telecom media and technology sectors in global growth markets.