Etisalat has made an offer to buy a majority stake in Kuwait’s largest mobile-phone company, Zain, for around $10.5bn, Bloomberg has reported. The bid is for all Zain assets controlled by shareholders who own about 46 per cent of the company, including operations in Saudi Arabia. The deal would see Etisalat extend its reach in the Middle East. “This makes (Etisalat) the strongest telecoms company in the region,” Mohammed Ali Yasin, chief investment officer at CAPM Investments in Abu Dhabi said. “I believe long-term this really is added value for Etisalat.”