A unit of Kuwait's Kharafi Group, a major shareholder in Zain, said it has not been notified by the group or UAE's Etisalat about extending a deadline for the 46 percent sale of Kuwaiti telecoms firm.

"National Investments Co (NIC), states that it did not receive from its client Al Khair National any information about extending the deadline of the agreement between Al Khair and Emirates Telecommunication Corp," NIC, a unit of the Kharafi Group, said in a statement on the Kuwaiti bourse website on Wednesday.

Etisalat, the Gulf's No 2 telecoms group, said in November that the deal could fail if definitive transaction documents were not signed by January 15, and made the deal dependent on the sale of Zain's Saudi assets.   

In September, Etisalat offered 1.7 dinars ($6.06) a share for a 46 percent stake, pegging the deal at just under $12 billion. A major Zain shareholder, the Kharafi Group, has gathered a consortium to tender to the offer. - Reuters