ISLAMABAD: As one of the largest mergers of Pakistan’s telecom sector is underway the decision regarding PTCL’s acquisition of Telenor Pakistan could be delayed as the competitors have lodged their concerns too.
In response to Profit’s earlier report, CCP through a statement said that the pre-merger application regarding PTCL’s acquisition of 100 percent shareholding of Telenor Pakistan (Private) Limited and Orion Towers Private Limited was received on February 29, 2024 from the PTCL.
However, the application was submitted with an incorrect fee and the remaining outstanding fee was sent to the Commission on March 6, 2024, later to complete due diligence further information was asked but the PTCL legal teams have yet to submit the required information.
The CCP has said that after all the relevant documents and information is received the Commission has 30 working days to complete its due diligence, for the first phase review.
Meanwhile, the CCP has also received concerns from a competitor regarding the intended acquisition by PTCL, claiming that the acquisition of Telenor by PTCL will reduce the number of competitors offering telephony service in the Pakistani market, and this will further delay the due diligence process.
There are four players currently in the telecom sector led by Jazz, Telenor, Zong and Ufone, while Ufone is the subsidiary of the PTCL, after the intended acquisition of Telenor Pakistan, both Ufone and Telenor will be merged to become equally as large as Jazz.
Currently, the merger department of the CCP is processing 21 applications, which includes the acquisition of Telenor by PTCL.
The other major merger in this sector occurred in 2016 when Jazz acquired Warid and the CCP conducted a Phase II review, which included the shareholdings in the parent companies of Jazz.
M Ibrahim lund
Muhammad Ibrahim Lund