Telenor Group announced the merger between its unit DTAC and True will not meet its end-of-year deadline target as conditions for the tie-up were not met in time.
In a statement, Telenor noted True and DTAC planned to carry out a voluntary tender offer (VTO) for shares in the companies, which aligned with the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission’s tender offer regulation.
However, the VTO was subject to conditions that “have not been satisfied” since its announcement on November 22 last year, and to stay in line with tender regulations the companies have “declined to carry out the VTO."
The Norwegian operator group, which is the majority shareholder of DTAC, said: “Telenor believes in the benefits from the merger and continues to actively support the amalgamation of DTAC and True. Telenor and CP Group continue to target an equal ownership share of around 30% of the merged company.”
The companies are now aiming to complete the merger in Q1 of 2023.
This was yet another stumbling block in the tumultuous merger between True and DTAC, Thailand’s second and third largest operators, as they move to mount a larger challenge against market leaders AIS.
Last week, AIS tried yet again to appeal against the merger of its rivals by petitioning the courts to revoke the regulatory approval granted last month.
