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Millicom Pulling out of Asia?
(02 Jul 2009, BWCS Staff)Mobile operator Millicom has announced that several companies are keen to buy its Asian operations, after it employed Goldman Sachs to help flog them, or rather "look at strategic options for the activities". The operators which are in Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Laos, generated total revenues of US$68 million and net profits of US$4 million in the first quarter of this year.
The move seems to indicate that Millicom is preparing to consolidate its holdings in the African and the Middle East markets and abandon plans to expand further in Asia. In November of last year the operator announced that it had won another African licence to add to its growing collection. The latest win was in Rwanda where the company successfully beat off bids from three rivals for the third national licence. Millicom holds an 87.5% stake in its newly created joint venture with local company Marathon Corporation. Between them, the new partners paid US$60 million for the 15 year franchise.
The company said that the new licence brought its total of licences held to 16 - spread across Africa, Asia and South America. The telecoms company also operates cable and broadband businesses in five countries in Central America. Millicom says that its mobile operations cover countries with a combined population of approximately 291 million people. Besides Rwanda, Millicom owns and operates licences in nearby Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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