Airtel To Merge Operations Of Its Sri Lankan Subsidiary With Dialog Axiata
By: Geetanjali
Bharti Airtel on Thursday, April 19, 2024 has announced its merger of its Sri Lankan unit with Sri Lanka’s largest telecom service provider Dialog owned by Malaysia based Axiata Group Berhad. They first announced the merger on May 2, 2023 after which on Thursday, they finalised their merger by signing a definitive agreement to combine their operations.
In this joint venture Dialog will acquire 100 percent shares in Airtel’s Sri Lankan unit and in return Bharti Airtel will own a percentage of shares in Dialog, they mentioned in a joint conference. Airtel in its press release said, “Dialog will issue to Bharti Airtel, ordinary voting shares which will amount to 10.35 per cent of the total issued shares of Dialog by way of a share swap”.
This merger will result in ending the Airtel brand as it will be covered under Dialog Axiata’s umbrella and the 5 million customers will be served by Dialog.
Axiata Group’s subsidiary Dialog Axiata Plc, is the biggest telecom operator in Sri Lanka, with over 17.4 million users, covering almost 57% of the country’s mobile network market.
Vivek Sood, group CEO and MD of Axiata Group, said that the merger associates with Axiata’s market incorporation strategy and will benefit shareholders of both Dialog Axiata and Axiata Group.
“We are happy to merge our Sri Lanka operations with Dialog. Given the scale and unique propositions they offer, we are certain that our customers will continue to enjoy cutting edge services on a seamless network,” said Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO Bharti Airtel Ltd. in his official statement.
In the same event Supun Weerasinghe, director / group chief executive officer of Dialog Axiata PLC said, “It is a privilege to welcome the team at Airtel Lanka to the Dialog family and together we take a significant step forward in our commitment to delivering superior telecommunications services in Sri Lanka”.
