Telenor Group forged a deal to sell its majority stake in Myanmar mobile payments joint venture Wave Money to a group of investors led by Yoma Strategic Holdings for $53 million. The sale of the operator’s 51 per cent interest will give Yoma Group chairman Serge Pun a 75 per cent stake in Wave Money. A previous attempt in June 2020 to sell its stake in Wave Money to Yoma Strategic Holdings was never finalized, following Ant Financial dropping plans to invest in the venture. The operator, First Myanmar Investment and Yoma Group launched Wave Money in November 2016. The move comes as Norway-based Telenor looks for a buyer for its Myanmar mobile unit, after taking a massive write-down on the business in May 2021 amid a period of political unrest in the country.
Telenor Group announced an impairment of Telenor Myanmar. Telenor underlined at the time that the operations in Myanmar continued, and that the future presence would depend on the developments in the country and the ability to contribute positively to the people of Myanmar. Further deterioration of the situation and recent developments in Myanmar form the basis for the decision to divest the company. In the present situation it has not been possible for Telenor to conduct an ordinary sales process. Since operations started in 2014, Telenor’s funding to Myanmar has been around 5.3 billion NOK. After turning cashflow positive in 2017, Telenor Myanmar has distributed approximately 3.2 billion NOK in dividend. With effect from second quarter of 2021, Telenor Myanmar will be treated as an asset held for sale and discontinued operations. The gain/loss calculation arising from the transaction will be impacted, inter alia, by the accumulated translation differences related to the Myanmar operation and will be finally determined at closing. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals in Myanmar.