Asaad al-Banwan, chairman of Kuwait's Zain has said the closing of the deal with India's Bharti Airtel could take weeks or months, Reuters has reported. "The deal will be signed in the next few days ... but the closing of the deal could take weeks or months, for our assets to be transferred under a new name which is Bharti," he said. The deal, which excludes Sudan and Morocco, is valued at $9bn.