ISLAMABAD – Edotco Group Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Malaysian telecoms firmAxiata Group Bhd, has called off one of the biggest ever telecom deal inPakistan.
Edtco has called off a US$940 million deal to buy 13,000 telecoms towersfrom Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited (PMCL).
Axiata subsidiary edotco Group said in a statement that it will not proceedwith the purchase of Deodar, a unit of Pakistan Mobile Communications Ltd(PMCL) that owns the towers.
Edotco, which is 62.4 percent-owned by Axiata, said that the transactionwas subject to a number of conditions and terminated due to thenon-fulfilment of the conditions precedent to the SPA within the stipulatedtimeframe, in particular regulatory approval for the resulting change ofcontrol contemplated under the SPA.
“Edotco remains committed to Pakistan and will continue to grow itsexisting business under edotco Pakistan, comprising today of the towersacquired by Tanzanite Towers carried out earlier this year,” the statementadded.
Edotco Group Chief Executive Officer Suresh Sidhu said: “We do not foreseethis affecting our business goals and aspirations. We are confident in thepotential of the growing market in Pakistan and are committed to theexisting operations there. We continue to develop our pipeline ofopportunities into Pakistan as well as into other markets in South andSouth East Asia and are confident we will be able to meet our goals forbusiness growth.”
The company’s Country Managing Director Arif Hussain added: “We have seenstrong progress in Pakistan since our first acquisition here and businesscontinues to grow with new orders for sites as well as high demand foradjacent opportunities such as energy solutions. We remain focused onbuilding the business in Pakistan.”
The deal, announced in August last year, would have made edotco thesecond-largest multi-country tower operator globally and the eighth-largestindependent tower firm.
Edotco and its Pakistani partner Dawood Hercules Corp Ltd had planned toacquire Deodar. Axiata’s shares dropped as much as 2.4 percent after theannouncement, but pared losses. Malaysian markets were closed on Monday.