Two of Malaysia’s biggest telco companies, Digi and Celcom are in talks to merge into one giant entity.
Digi’s parent company, Telenor Group and Celcom’s parent company Axiata – are apparently leading the talks for the merger. The merged company will be the largest telecommunications operator in Asia, with almost 300 million customers and 60,000 cell towers across Asia. Needless to say, it will also be the largest mobile operator in Malaysia.
The headquarters will be located in Kuala Lumpur, and will be spearheading a research centre to study the latest technologies like 5G, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things.
“By creating one of Asia’s leading telecom players; with strong regional operations in nine countries and close to 300 million customers, we will combine scale and competence, thereby unlocking considerable synergies. I am confident this will create significant value for shareholders and will be beneficial to our customers,” said Sigve Brekke, CEO of Telenor Group.
The terms of the merger are still being decided upon. Leading rumours suggest that Telenor will hold a majority stake in the new entity; as the company holds the larger operating capital between the two. However, this is still undecided and will be subject to regulations from every region affected. Including India, Thailand, and Indonesia.
Telenor and Axiata are expected to come to an agreement in the third quarter of 2019.
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