ile Telecommunications Co. Saudi Arabia (Zain Saudi) said Monday it will put forward a new capital reorganization plan to shareholders as it looks to wipe out accumulated losses and eventually raise fresh cash to support its expansion plans. Under the new proposal, Zain will ask shareholders to approve canceling shares worth 55.25 percent of its total SR14 billion ($3.7 billion) paid up capital, it said in a statement posted on the Saudi bourse website. If the proposal is approved, the board will then invite shareholders to vote on a rights issue to raise the new paid-up capital to SR10.65 billion, it added. Zain didn't set a date for the planned shareholders' meeting. Kuwait-based Zain Group has confirmed that it has rejected all three bids to sell its 25 percent stake in Zain Saudi Arabia. The respective bids were lodged by Saudi investment vehicle Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), local consortium the Al-Riyadh Group, and Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco). In an announcement made to the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE), Al-Khorafi Group, Zain's leading private investor confirmed: "The Zain board of directors unanimously rejected all the bids to buy the 25 percent stake in Zain Saudi Arabia," offering no further explanation for the refusals. The new proposal replaces an offer by the firm in August last year to cancel shares worth 47.6 percent of its paid up capital, and then raising its capital via a rights issue to SR11.7 billion. At the time of the original plan, Zain KSA Chief Executive Saad Al Barrak said the telco was seeking holder approval for the capital restructure due to "the growth potential of the Saudi telecommunications market and our plans to capture a growing share of this opportunity". The company, which is 25 percent owned by Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co., began operations in Saudi Arabia in March 2008. Its accumulated losses reached SR7.7 billion by end
