Following up on our report this morning, Axiata Group and Telenor Group have confirmed that they are in discussion to merge their telecom and infrastructure assets in Asia. This will result in the creation of a new entity that will cover 300 million customers as well as 60,000 towers throughout the region.
The newly merged entity will be based in Kuala Lumpur, with the Telenor group holding 56.6% of shares while Axiata will control the remaining 43.5%. In Malaysia, Axiata’s subsidiary, Celcom and its Telenor counterpart, Digi will be merged as well to become the largest mobile telco in the country.
If the plan goes smoothly, the new entity could also position itself as one of the top five mobile infrastructure company through the combination of Axiata’s edotco Group and Telenor’s tower assets within Asia.
The deal will also include the establishment of an Innovation Center which is said to be the largest in this region and will cover IoT as well as 5G. Additionally, there is also a plan to create a Global Talent Factory via the new deal.
The “mega-merger” is still in the planning stage at the moment and is still subjected to due diligence as well as regulatory compliance. Both companies expect that the finalized agreement will be ready by the end of Q3 2019.
(Source: Axiata via Bursa Malaysia // Telenor.)
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