Saudi Telecom Company (STC) is seeking approval to buy the 74 per cent of Viva, Kuwait’s second largest operator, it does not already own.

STC submitted a voluntary offer document to Kuwait’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) for approval. Viva was listed on the country’s stock exchange in December 2014.

If the CMA gives its go ahead then STC will launch an offer for all the issued shares in Viva it does not already hold. The Saudi operator currently owns a 26 per cent stake in the Kuwaiti operator.

STC will announce the details of its offer once it receives CMA approval. The offer will be self-financing from its own sources, it said.

Viva, which was established as a joint-stock company in 2008, is the second largest operator in a closely fought mobile market in Kuwait. According to GSMA Intelligence, it overtook rival Ooredoo earlier this year. The market leader is Zain. Viva had 2.4 million mobile connections at the end of the third quarter.

Viva reported revenue of KWD 204 million ($671 million) over the 9 months ending 30 September 2015, a 17 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2014. Over the same period, Viva’s net profit increased by 12 per cent to KWD 33 million.