CYBERJAYA: The merger plan between Axiata Group Bhd of Malaysia and Norway’s Telenor Group is still at the proposal stage, says Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo.
He said the ministry views the merger proposal positively especially as it involves a Malaysian company.
“With this magnitude, this is something that the whole world is looking at, and this gives Malaysia an opportunity to demonstrate that we have laws that adequately deal with mergers of this nature,” he told the media after launching Dell Digital Lab here today.
“As far as we are concerned, we look at the proposal positively. And we are concerned whether or not the initiative or merger will result in the loss of jobs, but I have had a meeting with those concerned, and they have shown me that in fact this merger exercise will create new jobs,” he said.
“It is merely at the proposal stage, so what we need to do is let them decide what it is they want to do, and of course when they come out with the final proposal only then we will comment on it… I think now it’s a bit too early,” he added.
Last month, Axiata announced that it was in talks with Telenor Group to merge their operations in Asia, including a plan to combine their respective subsidiaries, Celcom Axiata Bhd and Digi.Com Bhd, into Malaysia’s largest mobile operator.
Last month, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had asked for more details on the planned Axiata-Telenor merger on concerns over potential job losses.
– Bernama
