Telenor Announces Sale of Pakistani Telecoms Unit for $490 Million

Norway’s Telenor (TEL.OL) announced on Thursday that it had reached an agreement to divest its Pakistani unit to state entity Pakistan Telecommunications (PTCA.PSX) in a deal that values the unit at 5.3 billion Norwegian crowns ($490 million).

The Norwegian conglomerate has been restructuring its Asian operations, consolidating larger entities in Thailand and Malaysia through local mergers. Telenor had previously expressed its intent to finalize a solution for its Pakistan business by the end of the year.

The decision was influenced by challenges in establishing the desired structure and achieving the anticipated value in a merger. “We concluded that a sale would be more beneficial for our shareholders,” Brekke added.

Having been in operation for 18 years, Telenor Pakistan boasts a customer base of 45 million.

Pakistan Telecommunications witnessed an 8.3% surge in its share price on Thursday, while Telenor’s shares experienced a 1.1% increase as of 0837 GMT.

In the first three quarters of the year, Telenor Pakistan contributed 2.6 billion crowns in service revenue and 1.4 billion crowns in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to the group.

The completion of the deal is contingent upon regulatory approvals, with the target set for closure in 2024. Telenor noted that the sale is not anticipated to have a substantial impact on financials for 2023.