Norway's Telenor is selling Pakistan's telecoms unit after 18 years: Read what CEO said on the sale

Norway's Telenor has reportedly agreed to sell its Pakistan unit to state group Pakistan Telecommunications. According to a report in news agency Reuters, the transaction is valued the unit at 5.3 billion Norwegian crowns ($490 million). The Norwegian group is said to be restructuring its Asian businesses, building bigger units in Thailand and Malaysia via local mergers. The company had said that it had hoped to decide on a solution for the Pakistan business by year-end.

Telenor launched its operations in Pakistan around 18 years ago. The company has 45 million customers. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals, and the aim is to close it during 2024. In a statement, Telenor said that the sale was not estimated to have a significant impact on financials for 2023.

Telenor CEO: "Combination of not getting the structure in place"
"We also tried to do a merger in Pakistan but we didn't manage to get that, and when we saw this wasn't happening the second-best alternative was to arrange a sale," Telenor CEO Sigve Brekke told the news agency. "It was a combination of not getting the structure in place, and value. So we found a sale was better for our shareholders," he added.

In the first nine months, Telenor Pakistan reportedly contributed 2.6 billion crowns in service revenue and 1.4 billion crowns in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to the group.

Remaining Asian portfolio to remain active
Telenor's remaining Asian portfolio consists of stakes in Grameenphone in Bangladesh, CelcomDigi in Malaysia and True Corp in Thailand, with close to 160 million customers combined. "Telenor Asia will remain an active owner for the three market-leading businesses which make up our Asian portfolio," said the head of the company's operation in the region, Petter-Boerre Furberg.