Allen & Overy advises Telenor on the merger of Digi.com and Celcom, one of Malaysia’s largest M&A transactions

Post closing, Axiata Group Berhad (Axiata), the majority state-owned Malaysian telecommunications conglomerate and current owner of Celcom, and Telenor will be equal partners with a 33.1% ownership stake each in the merged entity, which will be named Celcom Digi Berhad.

The Merger will mark the union of two of Malaysia’s largest mobile services providers. Celcom Digi Berhad will possess the scale and shareholder support to deliver innovative customer solutions, drive digital access and growth and exploit Malaysia’s planned 5G rollout.

Completion of the Merger is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval and is expected to take place by the second quarter of 2022. 

Partner James Mythen commented, “We are very proud to have advised Telenor on this landmark deal. The merger is aligned with the growing trend of consolidation among telecoms operators across South East Asia and we were delighted to serve Telenor with a multidisciplinary team with deep expertise of these types of transactions”.  

The cross-practice, cross-border Allen & Overy team advising on the transaction was led by partners James Mythen in Singapore and Michael Reede in Sydney, with support from senior associate Christine Fong and associates Zann Tay and James Travers. The broader transaction team included partners and associates across our tax, litigation, antitrust, corporate, international capital markets, anti-bribery and corruption and banking and finance teams who assisted on this matter.