surfaced that Malaysian-based Axiata Group Bhd and Telenor Group from Norway were in talks to merge their Asian operations, with Celcom and Digi potentially joining to form a “Malaysian Champion” headquartered in Malaysia. However, that merger has now hit a snag, according to a newInitially, the merger was predicted in May to take 3 months to complete, with negotiations to form the largest telco operator in the ASEAN region now stalling due to a number of issues.
“What I heard is that we [Malaysia] wanted at least equal equity with the Norwegians in the merged company and [Axiata] was not willing to take a back seat in terms of control.” Previously, Telenor announced that the Norweigan-based group would be holding 56.5% of shares, making it the majority shareholder over Axiata, with a 43.5% stake. But the power-struggle doesn’t end there. There are also apparent concerns over the fact that Telenor would be appointing the new CEO of the combined entity, with Axiata to choose the Chairman instead.
“We are nationalists, so of course we want to be … headquartered in Malaysia and not Singapore. But what if we were more bottom-line driven? Then, of course Malaysia with all its uncertainty, political and what not, would not be the choice.” Coupled with rumours that the merger would see chunks of Axiata’s staff being laid off, another source revealed that Malaysian staff at Celcom Bhd have been expecting significant job cuts once the potential merger was concluded. The same source went on to explain, “The way Telenor operates and how Celcom operates are worlds apart.”
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