Norwegian state-controlled telecoms firm Telenor said today it wanted to win control of Malaysian mobile telecoms operator DiGi.Com Bhd by buying shares worth up to $365 million.
Telenor, which now has a 32.9 per cent stake in DiGi, said it wanted to increase its holding to as much as 61 per cent with a cash offer of 6.60 Malaysian ringgits ($1.74) per share. It said 61 per cent was the maximum permitted foreign ownership in Malaysia.
Telenor is seeking to increase its long-term interest in the Malaysian mobile market, it said in a statement.
Unlike many other telecoms firms saddled with giant debts in a sagging market, Telenor has funds to invest after selling big stakes in Irish and German phone groups to British Telecommunications in recent months.
In November last year sold its stake in Esat Digifone to Britiah Telecom for euro 1.41 billion ($1.24 billion).
Telenor now has 247 million shares in DiGi, and other investors hold 503 million. Telenor said its offer for up to 210.5 million of the outstanding shares was conditional on reaching just over 50 percent control.
Telenor said that DiGi, one of Malaysia's five mobile phone service operators, had more than one million mobile subscribers on its GSM1800 network at the end of March.