Telenor Pakistan has finally been sold to Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) after a year of searching for buyers and is finally exiting Pakistan. In 2023, PTCL signed a Share Purchase Agreement with Telenor Pakistan to acquire a 100% stake in Telenor Pakistan based on an Enterprise Value of PKR 108 billion on a cash free, debt free basis. The transaction was expected to be completed in 2024.
Selling the company was part of Telenor’s strategy as a way out of Asian markets where the company is suffering because of the bad financial and economic conditions. The company was procured through a share purchase agreement which was signed between Telenor B.V. and PTCL group. Regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions must be met before the acquisition can be completed.
According to Sigve Brekke, CEO, Telenor Group: “Our decision to pursue the sale of our Pakistan operations follows 18 successful years of operations in the country, which started as a greenfield rollout. We are proud of the company Telenor Pakistan is today. It is an efficient and future-ready telco operator, with a strong distribution network and talented team serving 45 million customers.
By selling to the country’s largest integrated ICT company, we believe this consolidation move would help strengthen Pakistan’s telecoms sector, creating opportunities in new areas of growth to the benefit of consumers in Pakistan.”
This transition will strengthen PTCL’s position as a core member and lead to its growth and market diversification.
Along with other telecom firms, Telenor aggressively promoted modifications to laws to improve the state of the sector and ensure its continued operational viability. To voice concerns from the industry, its representatives often met with government officials. Nevertheless, no action was taken in response to these cautions of the severe difficulties associated with the regulatory framework.
Over the past few years, Telenor Pakistan has faced penalties from regulatory bodies, unjustified assessments, improper tax legislation, and frozen bank accounts. Like many other telecom businesses in the sector, Telenor faced challenges with the licensing fees and spectrum rationalization.
Telenor found it more and more difficult to continue operating in Pakistan due to these difficulties, as well as rising business expenses, rising interest rates, and a worsening political and economic environment.
Under such conditions exiting Pakistan was the only thing Telenor could do.
The company made its mark in the Pakistani market in 2005 and since then the company has built up a subscriber base of nearly 45 million customers.
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