Bangladesh HC approves Robi-Airtel merger

A high court in Bangladesh today approved the much-discussed merger proposal of Robi Axiata and Airtel Bangladesh, paving the way for the formation of country's second-largest mobile operator, a media report said today.
The merged entity will have to pay Tk 100 crore (USD 1 = USD 78.42) as merger fees, said Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission's lawyer Khandaker Reza-E-Raquib.
Apart from the merger fees, the merged entity will have to pay Tk 33.8 crore for each Megahertz of Airtel's 2G spectrums to be used by Robi for the next four years.
During the court hearing, Robi's lawyer urged for installment facilities for this payment, but court forwarded the issue to BTRC, said Raquib.

The court also directed the concerned authorities to ensure voluntary retirement scheme for the employees who are not willing to work for Robi, the report said.
Robi and Airtel opened talks on a possible merger in August 2015, and on January 28 this year the operators' parent companies signed a deal to that effect.

If merged, the entity will be the second largest operator in Bangladesh after Grameenphone in terms of subscribers.
In the merged entity, Axiata, the parent company of Robi, will hold a 68.7 per cent controlling stake, while Bharti Airtel will hold 25 per cent and NTT DOCOMO of Japan 6.3 per cent.

Currently, Malaysia-based Axiata has 91.59 per cent stakes in Robi and Japan's DOCOMO 8.41 per cent, meaning both their shares in the Bangladeshi operation will be diluted after the merger.
On July 31, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina approved the merger proposals.