Telenor sells its stake in Thailand’s True Corporation for $3.9 billion

By Terje Solsvik and Elviira Luoma

OSLO, Jan 22 (Reuters) – Telenor said on Thursday it would sell its 30.3% stake in Thailand’s True Corporation for 39 billion Norwegian crowns ($3.92 billion), its second divestment from Asia in recent months, lifting the Norwegian group’s shares 8%.

Telenor said it had signed an agreement with Arise Digital Technology Company, owned by Khun Suphachai Chearavanont, to sell 24.95% in True and then its remaining 5.35% stake two years after the closing of the initial deal.

Telenor has been a major investor in Asian telecoms since the 1990s, building operations in Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and Pakistan, but has recently said it is open to deals as the industry matures.

MAY ALSO DO DEALS IN MALAYSIA, BANGLADESH

“With the completion of the sale of Telenor Pakistan in December, and the agreement to sell our shares in True we have taken big steps in delivering on that strategy,” Telenor CEO Benedicte Schilbred Fasmer said in a statement.

Telenor’s other Asian companies, Malaysia’s CelcomDigi where it owns 33.1% and Grameenphone where it holds a 55.8% stake, could also become subject to deals, the group said.

“It’s business as usual until such time that any opportunities present themselves,” Chief Financial Officer Torbjorn Wist told Reuters in a telephone interview.

“We know we’re going to be focusing on delivering value to our remaining assets in Malaysia and Bangladesh. And then over time, we’ll see if we can find structural opportunities for those as well,” Wist said.

True is one of Thailand’s biggest telecom operators with around 60 million customers.

Telenor will book an accounting gain of 14.7 billion Norwegian crowns at the current exchange rate at the closing of the initial stake sale and said it aimed to provide further information next month on the use of the proceeds.

The divestment, which is expected to close within a few months, is projected to boost Telenor’s return on capital employed and underpins the company’s goal of focusing more of its business in the Nordic region, it said.

($1 = 9.9484 Norwegian crowns)

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik in Oslo and Elviira Luoma in Gdansk; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar and Mark Potter)