June 8 (Reuters) – Kuwait’s Zain (ZAIN.KW) and India’s Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO) are expected to close a $9 billion deal for most of the Kuwaiti firm’s African assets on Tuesday, sources said.

Zain will receive $7.9 billion from Bharti on Tuesday before both firms make an announcement about the final closing, sources close to the deal told Reuters.

Bharti has called for a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday at 0900 GMT, but did not provide more details. Sunil Mittal, the firm’s chairman, will attend the press conference.

In March, Zain struck a $9 billion deal selling its operations in 15 African countries, excluding Sudan and Morocco, to Bharti.

Kuwaiti daily al-Rai said in a report earlier on Tuesday, citing informed sources, that $400 million will be deposited into the Kuwaiti firm’s accounts after completing some procedures related to the transfer of Zain’s license in Gabon to Bharti.

In April, Zain said that the Gabon government has approved the sale of Zain Gabon to Bharti. [ID:nSGE63T024]

The remaining $700 million will be received by Zain a year after the closing, according to the agreement.

Zain’s shares were halted since May 30 pending the distribution of its 2009 cash dividend after its shareholders approved a cash dividend of 170 fils per share, which excludes distribution from the sale of the African units to Bharti. [ID:nLDE64Q0TG]

There are 1,000 fils to the dinar. (Reporting by Eman Goma; Editing by Thomas Atkins)