Mobile operator Robi, the subsidiary of Axiata Ltd in Bangladesh, will continue to operate independently even if the Malaysia-based group’s talks with Telenor to merge its Asia operations completes.
Norway-based Telenor holds 55.8% of the shares in Grameenphone, the largest operator in Bangladesh.
“Robi Axiata Ltd, a subsidiary of Axiata operating in Bangladesh shall continue to be managed independently by Axiata post completion of this proposed transaction,” Axiata Ltd said in a statement on Monday (May 6).

Robi, the second largest telecom operator in Bangladesh, was formed after the merger of Robi and Airtel in 2016.
In a push to cut costs and boost growth, Telenor and Axiata have opened talks for a jointly-owned Asian telco, Reuters reported.
If a deal is finalised, the merged business combining the two companies’ South Asian and Southeast Asian operations will likely be owned 56.5 percent by the Norwegian mobile operator and 43.5 percent by Axiata, according to the report.
No cash would change hands as part of the merger.
The joint firm will have operations in nine countries with a total population of close to 1 billion people, including Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
The companies expect the combined group to generate savings of around $5 billion but did not provide a breakdown of where those would come from.
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