Mobilink acquires Warid – Official, Everything you want to know

Mobilink has announced just recently that they have reached an agreement with Warid Telecom to merge telecom businesses with over 45 million customers combined making it the first ever merger in telecom sector in Pakistan.

Following the long lasting rumors of the merge between Mobilink and Warid the two of the mobile carriers in Pakistan and a recent agreement between the two, it’s now finalized. The sources told Tech Prolonged that this completion has been done 3 months ago as this is a formal announcement just before the conference to be held later today in Lahore. while soon Mobilink will be offering high speed 3G internet at double the speed as well as 4G services and HD voice quality to its customers.

According to the transaction details, Mobilink will be authoring and taking control of the operations of Warid having 100% of its acquisition. However, Dhabi group will acquire approximately 15% shares of Mobilink. Some reports reveal that the two groups were about to announce this merger earlier next year.

Mobilink is currently the largest telecom operator with over 38 million subscribers, however they were lacking the 4G services for its customers. This merger will make it possible for Mobilink to take the 4G services of Warid to the next level of its largest customer base in the country, while the Warid customers would have the opportunity to use 3G services as well as 4G/LTE.

With the addition of Warid to the customer base at Mobilink, they will now serve more than 45 million customers and offer combined mobile and high-speed data network. This transaction follows the company’s recent joint venture announcement with WIND and 3 Italia in Italy and the agreement to sell our operations in Zimbabwe. The transaction is expected to create Capex and Opex synergies with a net present value of approximately USD 500 million. The combined revenue of both companies for the 12 months to September 2015 was USD 1.4 billion.

VimpelCom and the Dhabi Group shareholders have agreed a clear corporate governance structure. The board will consist of seven directors, of whom six will be nominated by VimpelCom and GTH and one nominated by the Dhabi Group shareholders. Upon successful completion of the transaction, Mobilink’s CEO Jeffrey Hedberg will become the CEO of the combined business and Mobilink’s CFO Andrew Kemp will become the CFO of the combined function.

While according to reports Warid would remain separate entity, it’s supposed that Mobilink would use every possible technology from the two networks to offer its customers at both ends. This would actually create a tough competition for other operators, Ufone, Telenor and Zong, where Ufone and Telenor provide only 3G services but Zong provide the both 3G and 4G services.

Transaction Details

• Mobilink will first acquire 100% of Warid’s shares in consideration for the Dhabi Group shareholders acquiring approximately 15% of the shares of Mobilink.
• Following completion of the above Transaction, the parties intend to merge Warid into Mobilink in due course.
• The Transaction is expected to close within six months from today, subject to obtaining approvals from the relevant authorities in Pakistan and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
• The Merger is expected to close within 6 months once the Transaction is completed, also subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
• The lock-in period will be four years following the date of closing of the Acquisition Transaction. After which the Dhabi Group shareholders will have the option to put their shares of the merged company to VimpelCom and Global Telecom Holding. And VimpelCom/GTH will have the option to call the shares of the merged company held by the Dhabi Group shareholders, each at fair market value.