Bharti Airtel and Robi Axiata, which earlier had signed an agreement to merge their operations in Bangladesh has extended the period of agreement until September 26, 2016 or until both companies come to a permanent agreement, Airtel said in a notification to BSE. According to the deal, Axiata will hold 68.3% controlling stake in the combined entity, while Bharti will hold 25%. The remaining 6.7% will be held by the existing shareholder, NTT DOCOMO of Japan. Follow the signing of agreement in January, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Posts, Telecommunication & Information Technology said that the merged entity of Airtel and Robi will have to pay an additional $62.4 million in fees for using Airtel’s existing spectrum in the 1800MHz band, along with other regulatory charges and fees, as pointed out by this Daily Star report. The additional charge is meant to adjust value of older spectrum bought by Airtel in 2005, when compared to costlier spectrum allocated to it in 2011, the report added. Following the merger, Robi Axiata is expected serve approximately 40 million customers and will overtake Banglalink Digital Communications as the second largest telecom company in Bangladesh. Note that the extension of agreement period for the impending merger follows exclusive talks between Airtel and Robi Axiata in September last year. Airtel entered Bangladesh by acquiring 70% stake in Warid Telecom in 2010, while in 2013, it picked up the remaining 30% too. In addition, Robi’s parent group, Malayasia-based Axiata Group Berhad, also owns 19.79% stake in Idea Cellular. Airtel’s Bangladesh operations and financials Airtel reports…
