Axiata Group Bhd. and Norway's Telenor ASA agreed to end talks regarding a non-cash merger of their Asian telecom and infrastructure assets due to deal "complexities."
The companies were working to complete due diligence and transaction agreements within the third quarter, according to a Sept. 6 statement.
Axiata Chairman Tan Sri Ghazzali Sheikh Abdul Khalid expressed confidence that the deal's termination will not affect the company's plans to become a "digital champion" since it is operating from "a position of strength."
Axiata and Telenor did not rule out a potential transaction in the future.
The transaction would have merged the assets into a new entity to be owned 56.5% by Telenor and 43.5% by Axiata. The merged entity was envisioned to become the largest telco group in Asia-Pacific.
Telenor recently completed the acquisition of a 54% stake in Finnish telecom operator DNA Oyj for €1.5 billion.
