We had reported few days ago that China Mobile is likely to buy Warid Telecom – and today “The News” has reported a news item claiming that delegation of China Mobile Communication Corporation (CMCC) is visiting Pakistan to talk with other mobile operators for mergers/acquisitions.
Paper further reports that China Mobile delegation is headed by its vice chairman and included project director for overseas investments.
Paper further writes…
Expected mergers in telecom are likely to change the shape of the industry by the end of this year. Mergers of commercial banks were seen recently in the country after the global financial crunch which also affected growth of Pakistani financial sector as well.
Industry sources said at least two major companies would be merged into one by the end of this year which would intensify competition in the telecom sector. It is learnt that China Mobile Pakistan (CM-PAK) is in serious talks with other cellular operators of Pakistan in a bid to expand its network. In this regard, some initial talks had taken place earlier. Now a second round of talks has started which would likely lead to a deal or open the way for more discussions.
The CMCC delegation is due to meet other operators in the next two days. It is expected that the visiting delegation would give initial offer to other operators for acquiring their network.
The CMCC delegation will also check performance of Zong in order to expand its network. When contacted, Zong Chief Executive Officer Qain Li confirmed that the CMCC delegation is currently on a visit to Pakistan. It is looking into the possibility of a business venture, he added.
I hope that before the said acquisition of Warid, the old outstanding dues of its franchises ( on average Rs 3.0 M each ) are cleared … otherwise we all be in a lot of problem.
We all franchises in Pakistam request China Mobile to make Warid’s management clear all these dues before sale.