Axiata and Telenor call off deal

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 (Bernama) --  Axiata Group Bhd and Telenor ASA have mutually agreed to end the discussions on the proposed merger of their telecom and infrastructure assets in Asia. 

In a statement today, Axiata said in the last four months, both parties have been performing their due diligence and finalising transaction agreements to be completed within the third quarter of 2019.

However, due to some complexities involved in the proposed transaction, the parties have mutually agreed to end the discussions, the group said.

Both parties still acknowledge the strong strategic rationale of the transaction and did not rule out a future transaction.

Axiata said the termination of the proposed transaction will not affect the group’s ability to achieve its Digital Champion aspirations by 2022. 

Axiata’s chairman Tan Sri Ghazzali Sheikh Abdul Khalid said the board is equally cognizant of the level of complexity of such a deal that extends across nine countries and 14 major entities.

“On behalf of Axiata’s board, we are grateful for the support from the Malaysian government, our investors and all of our employees during this process,” he said.

Meanwhile, Axiata’s president and group chief executive officer, Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim, said Axiata remains as one of the largest mobile operators in the region.

“Today, we are operating from a position of strength, with all eight operating companies performing well and looking cautiously optimistic to meet our 2019 key performance indicators,” he added. 

He said Axiata is confident of reaping the benefits from its investment in new growth areas including Enterprise, Home, Digital Value Added Service, Digital Businesses and Infrastructure in the next few years. 

“We continue to actively explore possible consolidation and portfolio optimisation opportunities to extract synergies, maximise efficiency and fund future growth areas,” he added. 

--BERNAMA