Telenor Group is selling its entire 34.2% stake in Wave Money to Yoma Strategic Holdings for $76.5 million.
A Myanmar-based mobile payments business, Wave Money is a joint venture between First Myanmar Investment, Telenor and Yoma Group. The companies launched the unit in November 2016.
Telenor is leaving the venture after it was announced that Ant Financial, the China-based parent firm of payments service Alipay, will invest $73.5 million into Wave Money to help it expand its offering. Both of these actions are subject to regulatory approval.
Lars Erik Tellmann, Telenor’s head of financial services, said: “both Yoma Group and Ant Group’s core operation is financial services and technology, and they are therefore the strongest owners to take Wave Money forward”, noting that Wave Money “will continue to be a strategic distribution channel for Telenor Myanmar”.
