Axiata, Telenor merge mobile operations in Malaysia in $16 billion deal

Malaysian telecoms firm Axiata Group Bhd and Norway’s Telenor ASA sealed an agreement to merge their mobile operations in Malaysia in a $15.8 billion deal, forming a new market leader in the competitive Southeast Asian nation.

The companies had said in April that they were in advanced talks to merge Celcom Axiata Bhd and DiGi.Com Bhd, and both parties would each own 33.1% of the merged firm.

The combination of the country’s second and third largest mobile services providers will create a company estimated to have annual revenue of $3 billion, with core profitability of $1.4 billion from a subscriber base of about 19 million, Axiata and Telenor said in a statement.