Malaysia’s Axiata Group Berhad and India’s Bharti Airtel have agreed to merge their operations in Bangladesh, namely Robi Axiata and Airtel Bangladesh. Axiatia will hold a controlling stake in the combined entity, to be known as Robi, which the companies say will be Bangladesh’s second largest cellco with some 40 million customers.
Malaysia’s Axiata Group Berhad (KLS:AXIATA) and India’s Bharti Airtel (NSE:BHARTIARTL) have agreed to merge their operations in Bangladesh.
The telcos entered into exclusive talks on 9 September about combining the Bangladeshi units, namely Robi Axiata and Airtel Bangladesh.
Axiata will hold a 68.3% controlling stake in the combined entity, to be known as Robi, while Airtel will hold 25%, the companies said in a statement. The remaining 6.7% will be held by existing Robi shareholder, Japan’s NTT Docomo. The deal value was not disclosed.
According to the companies, Robi will be the second-largest of the country’s six mobile operators with some 40 million customers, and provide the widest mobile coverage.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of this year, subject to conditions including regulatory approvals.
The telcos noted that the Bangladesh mobile market has been high-growth, albeit intensely competitive.
“The proposed merger is set to strengthen the industry structure, competitiveness and, more importantly, bring greater benefits to customers in terms of network quality and coverage and an improved offering of data products and services,” they said.
Robi Axiata CEO Supun Weerasinghe said: “The highly competitive and crowded Bangladesh telecommunications sector solicits consolidation and we believe this merger will form greater economies of scale for both groups.”
Axiata president and group CEO Dato’ Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim (pictured) noted that in-country consolidation has been one of the group’s key focus areas to solidify its position in its markets and ensure long-term growth. The company has previously completed mergers and integrations in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Cambodia.