AXIATA Group Bhd and Norwegian telco Telenor ASA will conduct a due diligence exercise for their proposed merger, MergedCo.

Axiata president and group CEO Jamaludin Ibrahim said the due diligence process, which includes looking at balance sheet and legal issues, is expected to be concluded in three to six months.

“We will have to agree on the management team of primarily MergedCo, and at least a few people in (subsidiary) MalaysiaCo.

“As for the rest of the operating companies on their side and our side, there is no intention to change the management,” he told reporters after the group’s annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur today.

MergedCo will have a 67% stake in MalaysiaCo, a planned merger between Celcom Axiata Bhd and Digi.Com Bhd.

Jamaludin said the group is optimistic that the deal will go through as it has received Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s blessings.

Khazanah has a 37% stake in Axiata.

Following the signing of the agreement for the merger, the parties involved will take six to nine months to obtain the necessary approvals from the authorities in the countries they operate in.

“If all goes well, we expect the merger to be completed some time in the third quarter of 2020,” said Jamaludin.

On pricing, he said it will depend on the business plan.

“But logically, it will be a lot cheaper than before.” – Bernama, May 29, 2019.