Axiata, Telenor Partner To Merge Malaysian Operations In $12.1B Deal: Report

Axiata Group Bhd AXXTF and Telenor ASA TELNF TELNY collaborated to combine their Malaysian mobile operations, Bloomberg reports.
The deal is valued at $15 billion, Reuters reports.
In April, the companies announced advanced discussions to merge Celcom and Digi.
Axiata will transfer its stake in Celcom Axiata Bhd. to Digi.com Bhd DIGBF for 17.8 billion ringgits for shares and 1.7 billion ringgits in cash from Digi, and 300 million ringgits from Telenor. The merged entity will have a “pre-synergy equity value” of 50 billion ringgits ($12.1 billion).
Axiata and Telenor will have equal ownership of 33.1% each in the entity known as Celcom Digi Bhd. The entity will have an estimated subscriber base of 19 million, revenue of $3 billion, and profit of $1.4 billion. The arrangement is estimated to lead to cost and Capex synergies of 2 billion ringgits on a net present value basis.
Celcom Digi’s main competitor will be Maxis Bhd MAXSF.
The transaction is estimated to complete by Q2 of 2022.
Celcom Digi will also dedicate 250 million ringgits over five years to build an innovation center in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.
Price action: TELNY shares closed lower by 1.95% at $16.68 on Friday.