STC now controls more than half of Kuwait’s Viva

 Saudi Telecom Company recently purchased another 25.8% of the Kuwaiti-owned Viva for $424 million, bringing its total stake in the company to 51.8%, according to a bourse statement released Monday by STC.

The purchase came after months of negotiation when, in December, STC made Viva an offer of $3.30 per share for the remaining shares it did not own.

Reuters states that, initially, Viva thought the offer was unfair at the time as Viva’s stock hit an all time high of $3.63 per share; however, after Viva’s price per share had fallen to $3.10 this past Sunday,  STC’s offer was seemingly more appealing.

With Kuwait state agencies holding only 16% of stock in Viva, STC now has majority control of the company