Telenor, a Norwegian telecoms company, announced on Thursday that it had sold its Myanmar business to M1 Group, a Lebanese investment firm, for $105 million, declaring its exit from a country that had descended into instability following a military takeover in February.
“The decision to divest the firm is based on further deterioration of the situation and recent developments in Myanmar,” Telenor said in a statement.
Telenor, one of Myanmar’s most renowned foreign investors, was one of the few Western corporations to gamble on the country when it emerged from a decade of military dictatorship.
After seeing its mobile operations severely curtailed following the February 1 military takeover, Telenor wiped off the value of its Myanmar unit in May, posting a loss of 6.5 billion Norwegian crowns ($752 million). The junta ordered a statewide mobile data blackout on March 15, making it more difficult for pro-democracy activists to coordinate protests and disseminate messages in support of the deposed democratic administration.
According to the United Nations, violence has driven more than 230,000 people from their homes since the February 1 coup, with security forces killing more than 880 people and detaining 5,200 others.
The government in Myanmar has made it illegal for senior foreign executives of significant telecoms companies to leave the country without permission. According to a source who spoke to Reuters earlier this week, it is forcing them to adopt intercept technology that would allow authorities to monitor users fully.
According to Telenor Chief Executive Sigve Brekke, the transaction has an implicit enterprise value of around $600 million, and the sale to M1 group will ensure the company’s continued operations.
The state-owned Norwegian operator has operations in the Nordics and Asia, where 95 percent of its 187 million users live – Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Myanmar.
In Myanmar, it has over 18 million clients, accounting for around a third of the country’s 54 million people.
