Kuwaiti-backed cellco Zain Iraq has filed an application with the Iraqi Securities Commission (ISC) to launch an initial public offering (IPO), Reuters writes, citing parent company Zain Group. In an emailed statement, a spokesperson from Zain told the news outlet that it had filed the first set of application documents for a listing on the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) and that its application was not subject to approval from the bourse and telecoms regulators. Under the terms of their licences, Iraq’s mobile providers were obliged to list 25% of their shares on the ISX by August 2011. To date, only Asiacell, a subsidiary of Qatar’s Ooredoo, has fulfilled this obligation, having listed 25% of its shares on the ISX from February 2013.
Commenting on Zain’s application, ISC chairman Abdul Razzaq Al-Saadi noted that: ‘They have preliminary approval. There are some technicalities that need to be ironed out, such as the mechanism of listing and subsequent trading and some further requirements from Zain that they have pledged to sort out.’