Thailand telecom merger faces delay, Norway's Telenor says

THE planned merger of Thai telecoms firms DTAC and True Corporation will not take place as planned this year, but may still go ahead in the first quarter of 2023, DTAC’s majority owner Telenor said on Tuesday (Nov 22).

Plans for a new industry leader in Thailand, with a market share of more than 50 per cent of mobile subscribers, have been held up over competition concerns since they were announced in November last year.

The plan originally set a one-year deadline for carrying out a voluntary tender offer that would allow the US$8.6 billion merger to go ahead, but this condition was not met, Norway’s Telenor said in a statement.

The Norwegian firm said it however still believed in the benefits of a deal, and that it continued to actively support an amalgamation of DTAC and CP Group’s True.

“The parties aim to complete the transaction within the first quarter of 2023,” it said. REUTERS