Telenor store in Yangon, Myanmar.Image: EPA Telecom Norway said on March 18 that Myanmar’s military government, through the Myanmar Investment Commission, has finally approved the sale of Telenor’s operations in the country to a local company and a Lebanese investment company. Telenor CEO Sigve Brekke said in a statement from the company that it had to leave the country “to uphold our own human rights values and responsible business because local laws in Myanmar conflict with European laws.” Transferred to the Lebanese company M1 Group, according to…
Telecom Norway said on March 18 that Myanmar’s military government, through the Myanmar Investment Commission, has finally approved the sale of Telenor’s operations in the country to a local company and a Lebanese investment company.
Telenor Chief Executive Sigve Brekke said in a statement that the company had to leave the country to “uphold our own values on human rights and responsible business because local laws in Myanmar conflict with European laws.”
Telenor will transfer operations to the Lebanese company M1 Group, which must form a joint venture with local company Shwe Byain Phyu Group, which will hold an 80 percent stake, as requested by the investment committee. The deal is expected to close by March 20.
Shwe Byain Phyu has acquired a 49% stake in Investcom, a Singaporean company set up to acquire Telenor Myanmar. Following the transaction, M1 Group will sell a 31% stake in Investcom to Shwe Byain Phyu.
Shwe Byain Phyu is a group of companies founded by Thein Win Zaw, a Myanmar businessman with long-standing ties to the military. The group has interests in gas stations, jade mining, timber and food exports, and works closely with the junta-run Myanmar Economic Holding Company.
Difficult negotiations over Telenor exit
Telenor seek left Myanmar after last year’s military coup, but its departure face some obstacles. Top foreign executives at Telenor were even barred from leaving Myanmar while talks about the sale were ongoing.
Telenor said the withdrawal of troops from Myanmar was inevitable in order to avoid EU sanctions after “continuous pressure” by the military junta to activate interception surveillance technology.
Civil rights groups said the deal could now put the data of 18 million people under the control of the military government and called on Telenor to delete customers’ personal information. However, Telenor said doing so would violate local laws and put employees at risk.
