Telenor, Axiata end discussions on merging Asia operations

Mobile telecommunications giants Telenor Group and Axiata Group Berhad have mutually agreed to end discussions regarding a non-cash combination of their telecom and infrastructure assets in Asia.

The declaration came through a press release signed by Hanne Knudsen, vice president of Telenor Group Communications.

Malaysian conglomerate Axiata Group Berhad that has extensive operations in Asia and Norway-based Telenor Group have been working over the last four months on due diligence and finalising transaction agreements to be completed within the third quarter of 2019, according to the press release.

Due to some complexities involved in the proposed transaction, the parties have mutually agreed to end the discussions, reads the release.

However, both the parties still acknowledge the strong strategic rationale of the proposed transaction. They also do not rule out that a future transaction could be possible.

Earlier, in November 2016, Airtel Bangladesh Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Indian multinational company Bharti Airtel, merged with Robi, a subsidiary of Axiata Group.

Now Robi is the second top mobile operator in Bangladesh with 47.93 million subscribers.

However, it was thought that if Telenor and Axiata had merged in Asia, there would have been a severe impact on other operators in Bangladesh.

Because Grameenphone, the subsidiary of Telenor Group, is the largest mobile operator in Bangladesh, while Robi is the second largest one.