This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on May 7, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Celcom Axiata Bhd said its proposed merger with Digi.Com Bhd to create the largest mobile and converged operator in the country will give the merged company a much stronger financial position to invest in new areas of growth.

Celcom chief executive officer Mohamad Idham Nawawi said the proposed combined entity would give it a pro forma of RM14 billion revenue and RM5 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda).

In a note to staff yesterday, Mohamad Idham said the proposed merger of its parent Axiata Group Bhd and Telenor Group’s Asian operations, which include the merging of Celcom and DiGi, was currently at an exploratory stage.

“I am sure that you have a lot of questions on your mind, especially around what impact it will have on us with this intention of the merger. I ask you to neither speculate nor worry yourself unnecessarily, hence we are holding a special townhall (today) at 9.30am, hosted by our chairman Tan Sri Jamal (Jamaludin Ibrahim) and myself,” he said.

Earlier yesterday, Axiata announced that it is in discussions with Norway-based Telenor ASA to establish a new merged global entity to create a global championcomprising their diverse market-leading portfolio of telecommunication, digital and infrastructure assets.

Axiata said the proposal involves combining Axiata’s and Telenor’s Asian operations within their Asean and South Asian markets.

According to Axiata, the international MergedCo will have pro forma revenue of more than RM50 billion and Ebitda of more than RM20 billion.