Zain Saudi appoints 3rd CEO in 6 months

Zain Saudi has appointed Fraser Curley as chief executive, its third CEO in less than six months, the telecoms operator said on Monday. Curley's appointment comes after Zain Saudi, an affiliate of Kuwait's Zain, said it had accepted the resignation of Khalid al-Omar, according to a statement on the Saudi bourse. Omar was formerly chief executive of Zain's operations in Kuwait and took over as head of Zain Saudi in October following the departure of Saad al-Barrak. Barrak had also been a former group CEO of Zain. Fraser joined parent Zain in January as advisor to the group CEO in Kuwait, according to his LinkedIn profile. The management upheaval comes as Zain Saudi tries to repair its balance sheet. In February, banking sources told Reuters the operator was in talks to refinance a $2.5bn Islamic syndicated loan maturing in July, while it has also proposed a capital refinancing as accumulated losses near SR10bn.