Celcom-Digi to move forward with merger in Malaysia

The communications regulator in Malaysia approved a merger between mobile operations of Axiata Group Bhd (AXIA.KL) and Norway’s Telenor ASA (TEL.OL), forming the biggest business of this sector for Southeast Asia.

A news report said that “Telenor’s Digi.Com Berhad (DSOM.KL) and Celcom Axiata Berhad are Malaysia’s second- and third-largest mobile service operators, respectively, and the tie-up will create the country’s top mobile service operator”, according to a statement by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

“MCMC said it has issued a notice of no objection after the companies submitted a set of undertakings to address competition issues that may arise from the merger.

“In a joint statement, Digi.Com and Celcom said undertakings included divestment of 70 MHz of their spectrum and Celcom’s “Yoodo” brand. In addition, they agreed to establish a separate independent business unit for their mobile virtual network operators’ (MVNO) wholesale business, and position existing products under a single corporate brand.

“When the merger was announced last year, it was estimated the new Celcom Digi Berhad would create a company with annual revenue of around $3 billion and core profitability of $1.4 billion from a subscriber base of about 19 million customers. Digi.Com had a market value of around $6 billion.

Maxis Bhd is currently Malaysia’s top mobile services provider with more than 9.4 million revenue-generating subscribers.”

Source: telenor.com

About Jaqueline Deeon

ScandAsia Journalist • Scandinavian Publishing Co., Ltd. • Thailand

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