Axiata, Telenor agree to merge their Malaysia mobile operations

“Axiata Group and Norway’s Telenor signed a definitive agreement to combine their Malaysian mobile operations in what is the biggest telecom transaction in the southeast Asian country,” Bloomberg reported.

Details:

• The combined entity is expected to have a “pre-synergy equity value” of nearly 50 billion ringgit (US$12.1 billion).
• The merger is set to become the largest telecom deal in Malaysia, overtaking the 41 billion ringgit acquisition of Maxis Communications by Binariang GSM in 2007, according to Bloomberg data.

Context:

• The agreement comes after Axiata and Telenor said in April that they were in advanced talks to combine Celcom Networks and Digi.com to potentially create the largest cellphone operator in Malaysia by subscribers.
• The firms will each have a 33.1% ownership in the merged entity, which will be known as Celcom Digi.