Press Release.
Manama, Bahrain – 2 June 2021: Kalaam Telecom, Bahrain’s leading technology solutions provider, has announced the acquisition of Zajil International Telecom Co. (KSCC), one of Kuwait’s longest-established ISP and ICT services companies, with the aim of creating a regional powerhouse which will drive digital transformation in the GCC region and beyond.
The acquisition will create a combined entity with revenue of US$100 million, with data centers in five countries, network Point of Presence (PoPs) in 25 countries, and a unique combination of subsea and terrestrial cable network that connects three continents. Kalaam will be among the top three ISPs in the GCC and will be the only operator with an ISP licence for Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Nezar Al Saie, Chairman of Kalaam Telecom, said: “This is a proud moment for Kalaam, as the only private Bahraini telecom company that was able to go regional serving a broad base of enterprise, wholesale, and channel customers.The expansion of Kalaam also supports the Bahrain Economic Vision 2030 with the aim of creating a regional digital ICT hub in Bahrain that will serve the wider MENA region.
Kalaam’s acquisition of Zajil Telecom is a testament to our ambitious, resilient growth strategy. Despite the economic challenges that hit the world and our region, Kalaam has sustained its robust organic and acquisition-led expansion plans. We are delighted to acquire Zajil, which is hailed as the leading ISP in Kuwait with a solid customer portfolio, encompassing some of the most prominent enterprises and government institutions. We are also proud of the expansion of Kalaam Telecom shareholders, with the addition of some of the most prominent businessmen in the Gulf region.
This acquisition is underpinned by our continuous efforts to strengthen our innovative enterprise solutions by investing heavily in cementing our regional digital infrastructure. With the integration of Zajil Telecom into our wider group, Kalaam is boosting its reliable, premium offering of disruptive industry technologies to its current and prospective customers,” he added.
“Zajil Telecom was the first ISP in Kuwait and has built on 30 years of experience to be recognized today as a leading information technology and communication service provider in the MENA region. The company is a regional leader in MPLS solutions, with a global customer base and network.
With the acquisition of Zajil, Kalaam Telecom will be uniquely positioned as the clear market leader, expanding its enterprise solutions across the MENA region, Europe, US and Asia. The combination of services and infrastructure brought together by the Zajil and Kalaam Telecom merger will result in the delivery of more advanced solutions.” said Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri, Chairman, Zajil Telecom.
“The acquisition of Zajil empowers Kalaam Group to become a full stack one-stop, end-to-end solutions provider of choice for the local & regional enterprise market and the international wholesale business. Kalaam has impressively evolved from being a pure ISP to becoming a 360 degree digital solutions provider, building a full stack Industry customized ecosystem of ICT solutions, including Cloud, Security, Data Center, IOT, AI and Unified communications for its customers.
With its terrestrial fiber cable system, KNOT (which spans 1,400 km across GCC), and Zajil consortium ownership in EIG (Europe India Gateway,a 15,000 KM international fiber optic submarine cable system that links 12 countries across three continents., the combined group will be able to offer redundant, secure and fast access to its Enterprise & Wholesale customers, for reaching their applications, data , workloads and other services on the Cloud or for connecting their regional & international branches.
The combined network will provide footprint in 25 countries in MENA, Europe, US and Asia with 53 fully owned Point of Presence (PoPs) to deliver all the product lines, and industry-specific solutions for the banking, oil & gas, retail, telecoms and transportation sectors.” said Veer Passi, CEO, Kalaam Telecom.
“Corporate customers today require innovative solutions that attend to their continuously evolving business needs, which is where a focused telecom solution provider such as Kalaam comes into play to respond quickly to enterprises with a fully tailored approach. Kalaam’s presence in multiple countries makes it uniquely situated to be the one stop digital solutions provider and a preferred partner to regional and international customers,” said Javier Alvarez, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Delta Partners, the leading telecom management consultancy firm.
“Kalaam’s acquisition of Zajil is a valuable opportunity identified during challenging times; it comes in line with AUB’s deep understanding and prioritization of technology. Our unique project finance capabilities in the sector demonstrates our vision and foresight to support the telecommunication/ technology sector which has become a forefront of all innovations and backbone for all other businesses.” said [AUB spokesperson].
