The owners of Pakistani mobile operators Warid Telecom and Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) have failed to reach an agreement on an acquisition of the former by the latter.
Abu Dhabi Group-owned Warid said deal talks collapsed because…
The owners of Pakistani mobile operators Warid Telecom and Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) have failed to reach an agreement on an acquisition of the former by the latter.
Abu Dhabi Group-owned Warid said deal talks collapsed because of valuation differences.
Late last year, PTCL, which is partly held by UAE telco Etisalat, submitted a binding offer to buy 100% of Warid but did not disclose how much it was prepared to pay for the shares.
A merger between PTCL, which operates under the Ufone brand, and Warid would have seen the number of Pakistani telcos fall from five to four. The merged entity would have been the largest player in terms of subscribers.
Several other competitors had reportedly been eyeing Warid, including Zong and Mobilink.
But a sale of Warid now seems off the table for a while after its shareholders said they would “focus on further enhancing its value”. Despite being Pakistan’s smallest operator, with around 13 million customers, Warid claims to have the highest ARPU in the industry.
Wireless players may soon face additional competition after the government recently announced that bidders from Turkey – including Turkcell – Saudi Arabia and Qatar were expected to take part in the country’s upcoming 3G and 4G auction.
Prospective bidders have until 25 March to submit their applications. The auction is expected to start on 7 April. The base price for a 3G licence has been set at US$295m while a 4G permit will cost at least US$210m.
