Axiata Group’s Robi and Bharti Airtel explore merger possibilities in Bangladesh

Malaysia’s Axiata Group and India’s Bharti Airtel are exploring possibilities of merging business operations of their telecommunication subsidiaries in Bangladesh.

In separate media statements on Wednesday, the companies clarified that the discussion for combining businesses of Robi Axiata Limited and Airtel Bangladesh Limited was at primary stage.

There were 128.7 million mobile-phone subscribers in Bangladesh until July, according to government data. Of them, Robi has 27.9 million subscribers and Airtel 9 million.

If the two operators merge, they will become the second largest operator in Bangladesh in terms of subscribers.

But both companies clarified that there was no certainty yet that the discussions would lead to the signing of an agreement between the two sides.

The statements, issued following speculation in India that Bharti Airtel was considering winding up its business in Bangladesh, said the announcement was intended to facilitate the on-going discussions and exchange of information between the two companies and also with the regulatory authority.

Axiata and Bharti will make further announcements in case there was any material development, the companies said.

Axiata is one of the leading telecom companies in Asia with operations in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Singapore, and India.

In the second quarter of 2015, Robi announced it had an investment of Tk 155.8 billion in Bangladesh.

It is providing services through 8,119 sites, including 2,450 3.5G sites.

Axiata Group and its associate companies have over 260 million mobile subscribers in Asia. It earned 18.7 billion Malaysian ringgit last year.

Bharti Airtel ventured into Bangladesh in 2010 after acquiring 70 percent stake in Warid Telecom. Three years later, Bharti Airtel Holdings Limited,  a subsidiary of Singapore-based Bharti Airtel, acquired the remaining 30 percent.

Currently, Airtel has the fourth-largest subscriber base in Bangladesh among six mobile operators.

Grameenphone, a subsidiary of Norway’s Telenor, has the largest subscriber base of 53.9 million, government data showed.

An Airtel spokesperson told India’s The Hindu newspaper that they “remained committed to Bangladesh”.

“The proposed merger, where we will be strategic minority partner, will combine the strengths of both companies to create the second-largest mobile operator in Bangladesh with over 37 million customers,” the spokesperson said.