Zain has won the TelecomFinance Middle East and Africa Deal of the Year award for the sale of its Africa assets to Bharti Airtel in June last year for $10.7 billion.

The Zain-Bharti Airtel deal was shortlisted among six other deals in the Middle East and Africa region which is voted on by an independent panel of judges.

'The sale of Zain's African assets to Bharti is the first ever TelecomFinance Deal of the Year nominee to win unanimous yes-votes from all our independent panel of judges,' said TelecomFinance editor Claire Landon at the awards ceremony in London, which was attended by senior telecom officials.

'For Zain, the deal marked a profitable exit from its successful African business, while for Bharti, it represented an Indian company finally making good on an attempt to buy into the high growth African market,' she added.

'The award validates our decision to capitalise on our investment by selling at the right time that was best for our stakeholders, while at the same time maximising shareholder value,' Zain Group chief executive Nabeel bin Salamah said.

'It has allowed us to focus on our growing and profitable Middle East operations, while in Bharti Airtel we leave the continent in safe and capable hands,' he said.-TradeArabia News Service