The Pakistan Telecommunications Company Ltd (“PTCL”), is a part of UAE headquartered telecoms and technology business e&. It operates the mobile network Ufone in Pakistan, which has 25 million customers.
PTCL has signed a share purchase agreement with Telenor Pakistan to acquire a 100% stake in the business. The deal was based on an enterprise value for Telenor Pakistan of PKR 108 Billion
The completion of the acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
“The strategic acquisition of Telenor Pakistan presents a significant opportunity for market consolidation, empowering us to invest more in creating the best next-generation network in Pakistan,” e& CEO Hatem Dowidar said.
Hatem Bamatraf, the President and Group CEO of PTCL promised better coverage, seamless data experience, massive reach and a wide range of products and services for customers.
Telenor had been operating in the Pakistani market since 2005, when it started with a greenfield rollout.
Telenor Pakistan has around 45 million subscribers. When combined with UMobile’s 25 million, the newly merged entity will be at a similar scale to Jazz, the market leader in Pakistan with around 70 million. Pakistan’s other MNO is China Mobile backed Zong, which has a similar subscriber count to Telenor.
The sale to PTCL leaves Telenor Asia with three MNO’s in Thailand, Bangladesh and Malaysia and concludes its strategic review of the telco operations in Pakistan, which was announced in July 2022.
“Our strategy in Asia is to build number one positions in the markets we operate, with scale as a pre-requisite for value creation and profitable growth,” said Petter-Børre Furberg, head of Telenor Asia.
Grameenphone leads the Bangladeshi market, but Telenor has gone through mergers in Malaysia and Thailand to get the number one spot.
In Malaysia, it merged with Axiata’s Celcom to form CelcomDigi and overtaking Maxis in terms of market share to become the market leader.
In Thailand, Telenor’s True merged with Dtac to overtake Singtel back AIS and create a duopoly mobile market.
