Airtel, Robi in talks to merge operations

Risingbd Desk: Bharti Airtel of India and Malaysia`s Axiata are in talks to merge their Bangladesh operations to create the Asian country`s second largest telecom company by subscribers.

The proposed Airtel Bangladesh-Robi Axiata combine will overtake Banglalink in subscriber base to become the second-largest player after Telenor group`s Grameen Phone.

Airtel will be a strategic minority holder in the combined entity while Axiata, which is keen on an all-Asia presence, will keep majority holding and management control, quoting a company spokesman, The Economic Times, reported.

However, the deal is currently merely in negotiation and may not go through, he warned.

He did not share financial details of the proposed deal.

The move comes as part of Airtel`s initiative to restructure operations in all markets where it trails one or more market leaders.

Airtel had bought Warid Telecom in Bangladesh in 2010 at an overall investment of $1 billion, and a subscriber base of 2.9 million users.

In Bangladesh, Airtel has been fourth among operators with over 9 million subscribers at the end of July, and feeling the pressure of rising spectrum and regulatory costs.

Market leader Grameen Phone had nearly 54 million users while Robi had nearly 28 million users.

Analysts said only the top three can survive profitably in that market. "This is part of the company`s larger and correct strategy to divest secondary markets and focus on India where Bharti is making profits," said an analyst with a multinational brokerage.

With agencies input

risingbd/DHAKA/Sept 10, 2015/Augustin Sujan