Zain Saudi Names Al-Omar as CEO After Al-Barrak Quits

(Updates with shareholders meeting in third paragraph.)

Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Zain Saudi Arabia, a unit of Mobile Telecommunications Co. of Kuwait, appointed Khalid Al-Omar as chief executive officer after Saad al-Barrak resigned.

The board of directors accepted the resignation of al- Barrak as a board member, managing director and chief executive officer, the company said in a statement to the Saudi bourse today.

Al-Omar will take over as the Riyadh-based mobile telephone operator’s “managing director and chief executive officer until the upcoming general meeting," according to the statement. The shareholders will consider appointing Bader Nasser al-Kharafi as a successor to al-Barrak, it said without specifying in which role.

Zain Saudi’s parent company Zain Group last month failed to sell a 25 percent stake in its Saudi unit to Kingdom Holding Co. and Bahrain Telecommunications Co. The deal fell through becuase lenders refused to transfer debt guarantees from Zain to purchasers, Al Watan newspaper reported on Oct. 4, citing Zain Saudi’s Chairman Prince Hussam al-Saud.

The shares closed 1.7 percent lower at 5.95 riyals in Riyadh today. The stock has tumbled 23 percent this year.

--Editor: Inal Ersan

To contact the reporter on this story: Mourad Haroutunian in Riyadh at mharoutunian@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net