Zain Saudi, the kingdom's third telecom operator, will start a rights issue on Tuesday which will close eight days later, the firm said in a bourse statement.

'The issuing price will be SR10 ($2.6) without a premium, keeping in mind that the shares offered are 600 million shares,' the statement said.

Last month the issue prospectus stated that Saudi Arabia's Al-Rajhi Bank and Banque Saudi Fransi are among five banks underwriting a SR6 billion ($1.6 billion) rights issue from the indebted telecom operator.

Zain Saudi received regulatory approval in May to cut its share capital to SR4.8 billion from SR14 billion, with the move aimed at eliminating some of its accumulated losses, which stood at 10.1 billion at the end of the first quarter.-Reuters