Awards Shortlists Reveal Telecom, Finance and Advisory Leaders for the Middle East in 2011

Special to TAG-IT News Agency

LONDON - The final shortlists for the TMT Finance Middle East 2011 Awards have been announced to celebrate achievements by the region's leading telecom companies, investment banks and legal advisers.

Finalists this year include STC, Morgan Stanley, Etisalat, UBS, Qtel, Axiom Telecom, Clifford Chance, Du, BNP Paribas, Nawras, HSBC, Viva Kuwait, RBS, QNB and Zain. Awards categories include Deal of the Year, Outstanding Leader, Mobile Operator, M&A Adviser, Broadband Operator, Debt Bank, Legal Adviser and Growth Story.

The annual Awards, now in their third year, will be presented on May 9 at the Gala Dinner of the TMT Finance & Investment Middle East 2011 Conference at the Ritz Carlton, Dubai DIFC, the premier regional event for telecom and media executives, financiers and advisers.

Telecom operators from the Middle East have led international growth in recent years and the Awards provide an excellent opportunity to celebrate both their achievements and their banking and legal partners, said Dominic Lowndes, managing director, BroadGroup TMT Ventures, the event organizers. We have an exceptional list of nominees in all categories again this year demonstrating how telecom companies continue to pursue growth across markets despite the challenging economic conditions.

The TMT Finance Middle East shortlists for 2011 are:

Deal of the Year

Nawras IPO raises US$500m (Morgan Stanley and Bank Muscat)
Viva Kuwait's US$294m Trade Payable Facility with Huawei
Zain sells African operations to Bahrti for US$10.7bn  (BNP Paribas and
UBS)
Wataniya Palestine IPO raises US$53m (HSBC and Arab Bank Group)
Qtel US$2.75bn triple tranche bond issue (Joint Arrangers were
Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, QNB, RBS and Standard
Chartered)

M&A Adviser

BNP Paribas
Citi
Standard Chartered
UBS

Debt Bank

Citi
Standard Chartered
RBS
Qatar National Bank (QNB)

Growth Story

Axis - STC
Ufone PTML Etisalat
Wataniya Palestine Mobile Telecommunications
Kuwait Telecom Viva

Outstanding Leader 

Eng. Saleh Al Abdooli - CEO Etisalat Misr
Mohammed Omran, Chairman Etisalat
Engr. Saud Al Daweesh, Executive President and CEO, Saudi Telecom
Company (STC
Faisal Al Bannai, founder and CEO of Axiom Telecom
Osman Sultan, CEO, Du
Ross Cormack, CEO Nawras

Mobile Operator of the Year

Etisalat
Saudi Telecom (STC)
Qatar Telecom (Qtel)
Etisalat Misr

Broadband Operator

Saudi Telecom (STC)
Du
Etisalat
Nawras

Legal Adviser

Clifford Chance
SNR Denton
Latham & Watkins LLP
Linklaters

The TMT Finance Middle East Conference and Awards Dinner (www.tmtfinance.com/me ), now in its fifth year, brings together leadership from the telecom and finance community to debate international strategy, financing and partnership opportunities.   Key themes include Global Telecom Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Next Generation Leadership; Media and Convergence; Financing Growth; Broadband; Regulation, Infrastructure Sharing and Creating New Paths to Operational Efficiency.

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) is the Main Event Sponsor, with Booz & Company, Clifford Chance LLP, SNR Denton, Pricewaterhousecoopers and Capital MSL also key sponsors.   Broadcast Partner is Al Alarabiya, and Media Partners include Thomson Reuters, the National, TMT Finance News Alert, Onda Analytics, Business Intelligence Middle East, Telecom Review, Middle East Monitor, Juniper Research, Nooz, Comm, Wealth Matrix, Middle East IT Insight and Dubib.