Robi to float shares in Bangladesh capital market after merger with Airtel, says Axiata CFO

Telecoms operator Robi plans to float shares in the capital market as soon as it merges business with Airtel, Axiata Group Chief Financial Officer Chari TVT says.

Axiata Group, Robi’s Malaysia-based parent company, organised a three-day “Axiata Regional Media Summit 2016” with the participation of journalists from six countries.

bdnews24.com asked the CFO when the company plans to go public.

"We hope the merger process will conclude by the year end and then we will go for the IPO (initial public offering)," said TVT. “This is likely in 2-3 years after merger.”

According to the merger proposal made last year, Robi’s paid-up capital was Tk 53.35 billion and Airtel’s Tk 45.98 billion.

Among the mobile-phone operators in Bangladesh, only Grameenphone is publically listed. Their 10 percent share is the biggest investment share among the operators in the country.

With a customer base of over 55 million, Grameenphone accounts for more than half of the total mobile-phone customers.

After the merger, the new entity will operate as Robi and its total customer base will stand at over 36 million, accounting for 30 percent of the total users.

Airtel is owned by India’s Bharati Airtel.

The latter had forayed into Bangladesh by acquiring Warid Telecom.

The planned joint venture recently received the High Court go-ahead. If no other hindrance crops up, it is up to regulators BTRC to finalise the merger.

Journalists from three nations are taking part in the three-day summit in Kuala Lumpur on an invitation from Axiata Group.

bdnews24.com had asked Chari TVT as to when Robi, which has been making profits since 2012, would launch IPO.

The company's CFO said, "There is pressure from the regulators as well to enter the stock market. We hope we will go to stock market through IPOs once the merger with Airtel is complete."

He was confident that the merger process will be completed by the fourth quarter of 2016.

Compared with the first quarter of the current year, Robi’s revenue margin increased in the second quarter by 5.1 percent, which translates to Tk 12.40 billion.

Since starting operations in 1997, Robi has pumped in a total of Tk 172.3 billion worth of investments.

It has since contributed Tk 166.8 billion to the national exchequer and paid Tk 2.9 billion as dividends to the shareholders.

Axiata is one of the leading telecommunication companies of Asia.

Apart from Bangladesh and Malaysia, the company also has businesses in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Cambodia and several other countries.