Telenor Group and Axiata Group Bhd have mutually agreed to end discussions to merge their Asia operations to gain a bigger foothold in the region’s mobile phone market with potentially 300 million customers across nine countries.
Announcing the development in a statement on Friday, Telenor said the proposed deal collapsed after four months of talks 'due to some complexities' without shedding any further light on the matter, reports bdnews24.com.
In the proposed non-cash merger, Telenor's stake was expected to be 56.5 per cent and Axiata's 43.5 per cent.
Both companies operate in Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Axiata also has a presence in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Cambodia and Indonesia.
However, Axiata’s mobile operations in Bangladesh, Robi, would continue to be separately and independently managed by Axiata.
The parties do not rule out that a future transaction could be possible, Telenor said.
