Norway's Telenor ASA and Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd. are in talks again about a potential transaction involving wireless telecom company Axiata Group Bhd., Bloomberg news reported Jan. 16, citing people familiar with the matter.
This comes four months after Telenor and Axiata ended negotiations over a potential merger of their Asian operations.
According to sources cited by Bloomberg, Khazanah, Axiata's biggest shareholder and Telenor are exploring various scenarios. These include the Norwegian telecom company buying part of the wealth fund's about 37% stake in Axiata. Buying stakes could also open doors for more deals, like a merger of Axiata and Telenor's phone tower assets.
However, a final decision on the potential agreement has yet to be made.