OSLO: Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor has sold its Myanmar operations to Lebanese investment firm M1 Group for US$105 million (RM439 million), Telenor said on Thursday, announcing its retreat from a country that slid into chaos after a military coup in February.
âFurther deterioration of the situation and recent developments in Myanmar form the basis for the decision to divest the company,â Telenor said in a statement.
Telenor, one of the biggest foreign investors in Myanmar, was one of the few Western companies to bet on the South East Asian country after it emerged from military dictatorship a decade ago.
Telenor wrote off the value of its Myanmar unit in May, booking a loss of 6.5 billion Norwegian crowns (RM3.1 billion), after seeing its mobile business severely restricted following the Feb 1 military coup. On March 15, the junta ordered a nationwide shutdown of mobile data.
The transaction corresponds to an implied enterprise value of about US$600 million, and the sale to M1 group will guarantee continued operations, Telenor chief executive Sigve Brekke said. âThe situation in Myanmar has over the past months become increasingly challenging for Telenor for people security, regulatory and compliance reasons.â
The Norwegian state-controlled operator has operations in the Nordics as well as in Asia, where 95% of its 187 million customers reside â in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand, and Malaysia as well as Myanmar. It has around 18 million customers in Myanmar, serving a third of its 54 million population. â Reuters
