However, a lot more needs to be done to make the Kuwaiti dinar bond market vibrant.

It offered 0.237 Kuwaiti dinar ($0.78) per share for the stake purchase.

Zain shares ended 1.5 percent up at 1.4 Kuwaiti dinars.

According to some estimates, Zain has around 1.8 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($6.2 billion) in debt to pay down.

Its net profit fell to 329,000 Kuwaiti dinars ($1.18 million), down from 1.33 million dinars in the year-earlier period.

A 46 percent stake in Zain would be valued at around 2.9 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($10.09 billion), according to Reuters data.