According to local publication Business Daily, the incoming owner might switch Zain’s name to its preferred brand, Airtel, a move that comes just 17 months after the African operator underwent massive rebranding on its own.

“Zain managed to break new ground with its brand because it brought its communication to the local level. Should they re-brand, they would have to maintain that focus or they would lose out to the more localized brands such as Safaricom”, commented Fred Simuyu, the chairman of the Marketing Society of Kenya.

The Indian conglomerate, run by billionaire Sunil Mittal, bid no more than $9 million for the Kenyan operation’s Kuwaiti parent company, Zain Group. If the deal is concluded, the Indian firm will acquire control over Zain’s African operations, including Kenya and expanding further into the African telecoms market.

In 2008, Zain Kenya went through a massive rebranding phase that saw its new brand unveiled in 14 African markets, in an announcement via live satellite. The company then committed to spend Sh25 billion on its rebranded network. However, industry estimates place the cost of the 2008 Zain rebranding exercise at around $28 million.

Surprinsingly, in September last year, Zain was voted first among the top 15 brands in East and Central Africa in an industry survey, alongside Nokia, Omo, Coca-Cola and Colgate, to name a few. The survey was conducted by a panel of SuperBrands independent experts and was based on market dominance, longevity, goodwill, customer loyalty and overall market acceptance criteria.

If the deal goes through it would be worth $15 billion, the paper said in an early edition that hit newsstands late Sunday.

The Kuwaiti investors are led by Al-Khorafi group, which holds 11% of Zain, and whose capitalisation stands at $23.2 billion, the report said.

The paper quoted sources familiar with the talks as saying that negotiations were being handled by Kuwait’s National Investments Co., the investment arm of Al-Khorafi group, the wealthiest family in Kuwait.

Last week, Zain shareholders abolished decades-old restrictions on ownership to enable foreign investors to take up a majority stake in the emirate’s oldest mobile operator.

The shareholders agreed at an extraordinary meeting to abolish two articles in the company’s statute which prevented any local or foreign investor from owning a stake of more than 5%.

Zain, Kuwait’s oldest mobile operator, has more than 65 million clients in 23 countries in the Middle East and Africa.

Zain, in which the state owns a 24.6%, is one of three mobile operators in Kuwait, along with National Telecommunications Co (Wataniya) and Kuwait Telecommunications Co.

Qatar Telecom owns a majority stake in Wataniya while VIVA is run by the Saudi Telecom Co.