Ufone to buy Telenor by March 30, deal nears completion

ISLAMABAD: Sources privy to the development said that the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has almost completed the first phase of the acquisition of a Pakistani mobile phone company operator Telenor by Ufone, and the report is expected to be finalized till March 30.

Sources confirmed that all the paperwork has been completed by Ufone and Telenor and the process will be completed by March 30, 2024 after which the Ufone management will formally acquire the Telenor mobile phone company. Furthermore, CCP sources told that there is no legal hurdle in Ufone’s acquisition of Telenor. The merge of the two companies will not create any problems for the customers.

Under the Competition Act 2010, the phase-I review of mergers is completed within 30 days after the acceptance of the application and the basic criteria for the phase-II review is to determine if the merger does not strengthen a dominant position. The PTCL holds 100pc stake in Ufone, while the merger of PTCL/Ufone and Telenor Pakistan is less likely to pose any market distortion in the cellular landscape of Pakistan.

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According to the data of Pakistan Telecommuni­cation Authority (PTCL), Telenor is the third largest company with its own services in Pakistan with more than 40 million customers, while Ufone company has more than 2.5 million customers in Pakistan. Ufone after completing the process of buying Telenor, these two companies will have more than 70 million customers

In February 12, 2016, CCP Pakistan had permitted the process of buying Warid by mobile phone service operator Jazz. Moreover, sources claimed that the government is taking serious steps to complete the process of buying Telenor and proceedings are likely to be completed within three months. Combined assets of Ufone and Telenor will be more than one billion dollars.