Mobilink and Warid are merging into one company, we have received the confirmation that we were looking for over several weeks now.
According to official statement issued by VimpelCom, both Warid Telecom and Mobilink will merge into one company with 45 million combined customers.
Our sources tell that signing ceremony has been completed and now both companies are going to hold a press conference in Lahore later today to announce the details.
#News: #VimpelCom and Dhabi group signing merger deal in #Pakistan to combine @Mobilink and @OfficialWarid #mobile pic.twitter.com/vpY8ZMhPYC
— VimpelCom (@VimpelCom) November 26, 2015
Upon successful completion of the transaction, which may take up to one year, Mobilink’s CEO Jeffrey Hedberg will become the CEO of the combined business and Mobilink’s CFO Andrew Kemp will become the CFO of the combined function.
The board of the merged company will consist of seven directors, of whom six will be nominated by VimpelCom and GTH (Mobilink) and one nominated by the Dhabi Group shareholders.
A notice sent from Mobilink to Karachi Stock Exchange said that merged entity will have combined revenue of 1.4 billion dollars for 12 months till September 2015, while EBITDA margin of above 40%. It further said that the transaction is expected to create Capex and Opex synergies with a net present value of approximately USD 500 million.
- Everything You Need to Know about Mobilink-Warid Merger!
- Transcript of Press Conference by Mobilink-Warid CEOs on Merger
Notice said that merged entity will have a strong financial profile with Pro Forma Leverage in terms of Net debt/EBITDA or around 1.8x upon signing, that will trend further downwards as synergies materialize.
Commenting on the agreement, Jean-Yves Charlier, Chief Executive Officer of VimpelCom, said:
“We are delighted to announce the agreement with the Dhabi Group shareholders today to combine our businesses in Pakistan.
With the addition of Warid to our already strong customer base at Mobilink, we will serve more than 45 million customers and offer a best-in-class mobile and high-speed data network – a key factor in the digital enablement of Pakistan’s economy.
This transaction follows a number of strategic milestones for the company, including our recent joint venture announcement with WIND and 3 Italia in Italy and the agreement to sell our operations in Zimbabwe.
This is yet another important step in our journey to continue delivering on our strategy to transform VimpelCom and improve our competitive position in our operating markets.”
Chairman of Dhabi Group, His Highness Sheikh Nahyan Mubarak Al Nahyan, said
“Creating the largest operator in Pakistan is a significant milestone for Mobilink and Warid but also for Pakistan as a whole.
Warid’s partnership with Mobilink will create value for all stakeholders and pave the way for exceptional and cost-efficient telecommunication services for customers.
Both parties bring their unique strengths to this merger. Warid, with its strong post-paid base and high quality 4G/LTE network will complement Mobilink’s position in the market.
We are very pleased to continue to contribute to the strengthening of the competitive landscape for the broader telecom sector and the overall economy of Pakistan. The transaction reaffirms my own and my fellow investors’ long-standing and continuing commitment to Pakistan.”
Additional details of the Transaction
- As part of the Transaction, Mobilink will first acquire 100% of Warid’s shares in consideration, while Dhabi Group shareholders will get approximately 15% of the shares of Mobilink. This process may take up to six months from today and is subject to regulatory approvals.
- After this Warid and Mobilink will merge into one company, that will require another six months to close and regulatory approvals.
- After a four year lock-in period following the date of closing of the Acquisition Transaction, the Dhabi Group shareholders will have the option to put their shares of the merged company to VimpelCom/GTH, and VimpelCom/GTH will have the option to call the shares of the merged company held by the Dhabi Group shareholders, each at fair market value.
While announcing the merger, Jeffrey Hedberg, President & CEO Mobilink, sent following email to Mobilink employees:
Dear Colleagues,
When I joined Mobilink a year and half ago, I promised you that together we will do exciting things. The milestone that I am about to share with you is not just one of the greatest that the industry has ever seen but is more importantly a testament of the hard work that we have put in as a team.
I am pleased to announce that we have just reached an agreement with Dhabi Group to merge Mobilink and Warid Telecom, subject to approval from relevant authorities.
This transaction will be one of the first mergers in the telecommunication sector in Pakistan’s corporate history. It marks another key step in VimpelCom’s global strategy to transform the company.
What this merger will mean is that whether you are part of Warid or Mobilink you will all be part of the largest, the longest standing, the fastest and most importantly, the most preferred mobile operator for the people of Pakistan.
Our combined operations will serve 45 million mobile and broadband subscribers in Pakistan. I congratulate you all on this great achievement and for all the work you have put in.
Let us all cherish this milestone and continue to capitalize on the culture of performance and delivery with which Mobilink has become synonyms. Let us keep our customers at the center of everything we do, at all time, and let us focus on creating the best customer experience that Mobilink has been known for over the past two decades.
I am confident that as one team, we will continue to support each other in every way possible and make this transaction the most successful in history of telecom industry of Pakistan.
Here is one team, one spirt and one vision,
Have a great day everyone.
Regards,
Jeffery
So, Mobilink will launch LTE too ….
or may all user will use both Services :) warid + mobilink 3G + LTE
Yes, I think so. Its good for the users too.
even warid was not able to provide LTE to all.. how will it be possible for mobilink with limited LTE bandwidth… :P
Warid was facing narrow spectrum problem due to voice and text services. now Mobilink will shift all Warid users voice and text data on their own spectrum and use their 3G and Warid lte spectrum only for data services. But due to huge database Mobilink have to deploy more cell sites in big cities like Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi/Islamabad and Multan etc where large number of users connect on a single cell site (or use existing warid and mobilink cell sites by converting them both 3g and lte) to fulfill the speed demand.
more investment … not so easy right after merger cost paid to Warid owners…
It will be costly but only option if Mobilink want to provide both 3g/lte services to all its users. No other way
Dont get surprise if one year after this merger Telenor and Mobilink will merge also as parent company of Telenor Pakistan Telenor norway has 43.0% shares in parent company of VimpelCom. 1 company with 78 million subscribers and 70% of market share.
Dont get surprise if one year after this merger Telenor and Mobilink also merge into 1 company as Telenor Pakistan’s parent company Telenor norway has 43.0% shares in parent company of Mobilink which is VimpelCom. 1 company with 78 million subscribers and 70% of market share.
No Telenor takes back its shares from Vimpel Com
when? on their website it still showing that Telenor is 45% shareholder in VimpelCom
Well the deal of selling shares of Telenor in VimpelCom still not made. May be shareholders of VimpelCom mutually decided before buying warid that they will merge all their businesses into one company as Telenor in future. I thought it like this because at the time of sale announcement telenor has 33% shares in VimpelCom in Oct but now they further purchased 305 000 000 preffered shares in VimpelCom and become partner of 43%. May be a fund to buy Warid.
How you know that? You are employee of any company?
Do you?
No
then it needs a little bit search
Really Loved This Windows :D Bachpan Ki Yaad Taza Ho Gye :P
Telenor has stake in vimplecom. Mobilink is owned by Gobal Telecom Holding LLC (Orascom) which is later owned by Vimplecom which is owned by (Atimo 47% and Telenor 43%) kaya ajeeb khichri bani hai.
From an internal source, Telenor Group has withdrawn its shares from Vimpelcom in light of controversy being established against VimpelCom’s operational strategy.
All are rumors. At the moment Telenor is very much partner in VimpelCom with 43% Shares
Well the tagline is Warid and Mobilink agreed to merge.
But in reality it is Warid and Mobilink agreed to marriage.
Lolz. crazy to see the anticipation.
Warid walo tyar ho jawo. Aap ek bykar network py janay walay ho.
Telenor and Zong will survive in market due to large number of users and 3G for telenor and 3g/lte for zong.
BUT END OF UFONE ERA …………………. RIP Ufone
lol wut?
Ufone’s advertisement alone gives it the lead single handedly. They don’t need to be ‘the best’ to survive in this market.
Well the growth in market and Ufone Users word of mouth tells another story.
Ugh! I like Ufone. Their voice quality is a lot better than Mobilink and Zong.
I like Zong now due to their 4G speeds.
You can keep your fortune telling to yourself and sell your bananas somewhere else.
Quality of Ufone? You are living in some other world man
Ugh! You consider yourself epitome of wisdom and all others are fools belonging to some other world.
Tell me Mr Wise Man, what do we call that hole behind your back where sun does not shine?
I was talking about general perception of Ufone that you can experience here as well but i think you have taken your mind into your place you just mentioned above.
it will take at least a year
That means my beloved Warid quality will deteriorate badly. Just like Mobilink is at present. Warid has excellent voice quality and too good LTE.
Mobilink has jittery voice and even worse 3G. Don’t know how they got good results in PTA survey.
Bad, Really bad news for Warid guys. :(
What are you talking about? Mobilink’s quality has been top notch, right up with Warid and Telenor. Its Zong and Ufone who can’t offer the same level of network quality and reliability.
In the past 6 months Mobilink replaced all its high quality equipment from Ericsson with cheap chinese junk from Huawei and ZTE
The whole world is going for cost effective solutions. It doesn’t necessarily means they are junk.
Oh dear. That’s what is exactly means. Junk.
Ugh idiot! I use Chinese Q-Mobile and I can guarantee you their smartphones are of high quality now. These days Prices are based upon brand name and not the quality of product. Pack your sh**t in a box and label it Apple Sh**t and it will sell like hot cake in high price.
I’m talking about the telecommunications equipment installed at the cell sites here, not your handheld device. Ericsson’s equipment and service was undoubtedly superior. Chinese just agree to everything the customer demands and then don’t deliver unlike Ericsson where the culture is to tell it like it is. Chinese are also a huge corrupting influence, wining and dining, offering bribes and prostitutes to mid level managers to get them to approve shoddy workmanship and low quality equipment.
Chinese this; chinese that? What are you a confirmed imbecile? These days every electronics product is coming from China to pakistan and everywhere else. Even high end equipment of “Ericsson” are now “made in china”.
Being a muslim look what pakistanis are upto to “full time corruption” and being a stone worshipping fool chinese what they have done.
Dear brother, while I agree with your comment regarding Ufone, I completely disagree regarding Mobilink brother.
You can’t even use Skype with all bars and H+ signals. Too bad.
May be you are residing at a place where they have less users or something.
Call drops are common. Voice is jittery.
I left Mobilink in 2004 and then tried again in 2013 and now after 3G auction. Tried in Quetta, Lahore, Multan, Karachi. Trust me if you’re a Warid customer you’ll find a HUGE difference. Even Warid’s 2G is better & Smooth.
Mobilink’s Internet is spikey. Tower handover is worse. During driving the voice disappears and call drops.
Warid on the other hand is a total different story.
I agree Warid has less coverage but where they cover, it’s like a blanket. Smooth and good.
Mobilink towers are wide spread with grey and dark areas in between. They are covering just for the sake of coverage, not for the sake of quality.
Terrible network. Severely lacking quality.
This is 3rd time in 15 years I have tried and disliked Mobilink.
Definitely a bad news.
I have been Mobilink user eversince and may be I will continue using it. However, I agree with you on certain point. Loved the your judgement where you said “they cover for sake of coverage not quality”
Unfortunately my house is on that same grey zone that you talked about, between two towers, the voice quality and internet, nothing is stable. Voice is bad and it does not stay consistently on 2G or 3G, no matter which set you use. About 100 yards before and few of yards after my house, things are much better..
So you are right, mobilink does not covered areas to give smooth quality all over.
Thanks for understanding and agreeing. I tried to make a fair judgement brother.
i dont think it is positive news .. one company exiting from pakistan..
It will benefit our economy and help new entrants as well.
the other companies might enter into the market as new auction is on the way.. by PTA.. good for warid which was facing troubles in maintaining the status and keep investing….
Any details about new auction ?
Its not a position new for Warid Employees.
they will remain there and from the very first day warid will not treat well to the employees ….. worst HR in industry …
If Gods Will.
Warid HR Bound here dear
Lol my warid sim already portin mobilink xD … Warid call rate are soo much high and quality is best … Mobilink quality is best and low rate …
nice move mobilink.
Aplomb for Mobilink… I just quited Mobilink for its lack of LTE it turns out they love me!
There taking over the company i moved to. ??
then better join Zong…
They have a poor service. I mean coverage to be honest.
Warid users brace yourselves for low quality now. LTE speed will also drop. Anyway good luck
Warid LTE has already gone pathetic some 8 months ago.
It’s a good news for both though…. Will help mobilink increase its ARPU too… They are already in a process to improve their quality
Please check again. Maybe are using Zong 4G ?
And i doubt you have ever used Zong 4G.
Zong 4G is also good but after Warid LTE. but to be honest neither is pathetic
Have you every experienced Zong 3G? Let alone 4G!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fb30f44244354c2e8771da76eae61801deef7d87c2808a37cf68790cd81664de.jpg
ZONG 4G on PC
change server to california
:D
lol ok. sothere’s a perfect matcg between warid and mobilink now
IIRC, Warid LTE hadn’t even launched 8 months ago.
Using it since November 2014, I was one of the very first beta testers.
Can agree to that! 1 mbps in johar town at lte full signals!
When no electricity due to maintenance for 12 hours, the whole time, LTE didn’t work util electricity came back, its a pathetic service already!
mobilink 3g is flop due to lowest speed & warid lte also flop . warid is already dead so mobilink death is near.
are you still living under the rock? Mobilink has the fastest 3G according to PTA’s extensive testing of Download & Upload speeds. Mobilink gives the highest download & upload speeds.
it means you are not employee of Warid or Mobilink its clear…
Mobilink Speed is Awesome
Agree….strongly agree…. Many a times it depends on ur handset too
Agreed
merger means monopoly …..
I myself have used mobilink 3G and believe me it’s always 7-10mbps/s…. So far both of these operators were the only quality providers in telecom industry…. Warid has been a class… Undeniable fact
Dhabi group is pulling from some other major markets as well.. not only pakistan. as for Mobilink not going for 4G license last year, an ace move from Vimpelcom fellas there… :D
i informed of this merger much earlier. thanks.
We’re thankful to you.
Really grateful for your wisdom. Please share your next predictions also, especially about current employees of both companies
The news has been announced by Mobilink at their offcial facebook page.
But I have a question; Will Warid continue to work as a separate brand?
No. Warid is going out of Pakistan. May be Saudi Arabia is in need of money for killing Muslims in Yemen.
Meray bai. U r rite. But fu-c-ki-ng int-ernet bill is approved so avoid saying truth.
Bcaz haq ko bolo Gunah hai aaj kl
We are pleased to announce that Vimpelcom and Dhabi Group shareholders have agreed to combine their businesses, Mobilink & Warid in Pakistan. With the addition of Warid to our growing customer base, Mobilink will serve more than 45 million customers and offer a best-in-class mobile and high-speed data network – a key factor in the digital enablement of Pakistan’s economy.
Mobilink Announcement
Its basically Warid LTE + Warid Strong PostPaid Base + Mobilink 3G + Mobilink HD Calls + Mobilink Huge Customer Base
This process of merg will take a year to be sure
Yes they already said that. Read the article.
As part of the Transaction, Mobilink will first acquire 100% of Warid’s shares in consideration, while Dhabi Group shareholders will get approximately 15% of the shares of Mobilink. This process may take up to six months from today and is subject to regulatory approvals.
After this Warid and Mobilink will merge into one company, that will require another six months to close and regulatory approvals
As per my technology sense, this merger will also pave the way for new telecom company as the competition will get low. Let’s see how much I am correct. By the way, I am a warid user and i cannot use Warid’s 4G in my iPhone so here i will have a chance to enjoy 3G. :)
A clever move by Mobilink to further strengthen its position as a leading telecom operator of Pakistan.
Yeh acha nahi hua……www myvoictv com
Tumhari ad hogayi bus khatam
So will the company name be Warid or Mobilink?
MowBillink
Mobirid :p
Good News For Both Customer
Rock For Zong 4G
Congratulation to you bro. everything same happened as we discussed earlier few weeks ago. now you will be able to use 3g as well. What happened with the speed of mobilink 3g and warid lte is a thing we have to discuss in future. Congo again
Bhai Jub Se Zong NE 2Gb Wala Packeg Dia Ha IskiSpeed Downloading Speed Pehly 5mb Tak Thi Ab Kam Ho K 2mb Se 3Mb Ho Gai Ha
Bhai hum to abhi b 30-40 MB use kar rahay hyn. But dont expect more than this speed from Mobilink after merger that you are experiencing on zong now
Buddy Main Blind Lover Nahi Agr Speed Achi Nahi Ho G To Jis Ki Ho G Wo Use Karain Gay
Apke Utorrent Screen Shot Main Bhi 3mb Speed Show Ho Rahi Ha
yess 3MB/s matlab 25-27 Mbps aur warid lte ki fsd myn 6-8 Mbps se ziada nai aati
Warid is the quality network and mobilink is not as much promising in that sense. I’m sad to listen this news and market will become more monopolistic.
Swapping of share is very disappointing for Government; both saved 0.3% withholding tax :( :( :(
Telenor Norway holds 45% shares of VimpelCom
@ Zong are you ready!
Nothing will happened to Zong. Ufone will be dead
Bad news for Zong
1.) warid deprived Zong from “the first & only 4g network”
2.) Then “only 3g+4g network”
Now Zong have to change the tagline again. ;)
Still Zong will remain 1st 3g+4g network. And atleast zong users will enjoy quality services of both 3g and 4g services. strongly doubtful about Mobilink Lte/3g
Zong –
Pakistan’s Largest 4G Network
Lol
Currently it is
I love Waridtel but now I’m not interested, I hate Mobilink
and what will be the fate of Warid numbers ported to other networks??? as other networks ported to Warid will be as merged network…
RIP Warid. You were a great network while you lasted.
Now Game Starts between Russia (Mobilink) and China (Zong)
Ufone may be got dead and may be Telenor also get merger into Ufone.
After 6 months Telenor acquired 4G licence
And A new company May be TurkCel is our fifth operator.
Bad Prophecy! Telenor didn’t have money to get 3G license in a single step (paid 170M$) how it will buy Ufone – the pathetic network; So, there is no chance for Telenor to getting 4G license also. TurkCel is not going to come in our beloved country – due to the pathetic tax. :D
Telenor Norway has 43% share in VimpleCom a parent company of Mobilink which bought Warid in Pakistan. Wait for 1 or 2 years and Mobilink will merge into telenor. and Warid, Mobilink and Telenor will become 1 company. cheers
Yep! They will buy all the companies of Pakistan, also Propakistani :D
May be Vimpelcom has some shares of Aamir Atta’s belly :D
Hahahhaha….!!! Now, Aamir Atta will Ban you :D
No He can’t, he always enjoys fun on him
@aamir7:disqus is it true, Bro? :P
I don’t enjoy, but don’t want to curb your freedom.
That is why we love you bro
Then which company will get 850 MHZ slot? And 4G slot
Just 2 left Telenor and Ufone and Ufone is weak to aquire 4G licence. Do what’s next?
You are right so it’s mean upcoming auction will be effected badly
Warid Jahan jati hai. Kuch arsy baad band hojatihaim jaise Bangladesh me hua
They didn’t focus on advertising, never thought of increasing users. Zong did this
I am warid customer since May 2005 just few days after official lunch of warid telecom and I will remain until the end
Hahaha you get lunch from Warid?
Its not really a merger.Seems more like a takeover by Mobilink.
Dhabi Group seems to be pulling out of Pakistan.Could Bank Alfalah be next ?
million dollar question
The name of the company will still remain mobilink or some other
Warid customers will now have to become members of the largest, inefficient, worst network of Pakistan with the worst customer service. Alas Warid u & ur excellent services will be missed.
I guess their will be huge layoffs in result of this merger ….
This. Is. Awesome.
Zong (Pakistan First 3G + 4G) Network
Bht jal rahi ho gi China Mobile Company ki. Coz Mobilink begair 4G spectrum khariday hue kahe ga “Mobilink” Pakistan First 4G LTE Network :D
How can Mobilink called itself 1st 4G LTE network? Zong first launch 4G LTE in Pak. And due to some license limitation issues Warid was not able to associate word 4G with itself and they always named themselves as Warid LTE not Warid 4G (No matter its same technology) and nor Mobilnk will be able to use word 4G but Mobilink can call itself 3g+lte. Zong is using 4G LTE as it has license.
ufone ka bhi to 9months main 5 billions ka loss hua hai lagta hai zong ufone ko buy karega?
oh i forgot .arabs behind ufone too….same as warid. arabs are not good at business i.e wateen ptcl,ufone ans warid.
Great move by Mobilink
Har Dil Har Din
Warid got 3G, Mobilink 4G = WarLink
Let’s see how they loot us :D, sb dost dua kijye ga for Warid Users including me (have 15+ Warid connections, family members)…
That means my beloved Warid quality will deteriorate badly. Just like Mobilink is at present. Warid has excellent voice quality and too good LTE.
Mobilink has jittery voice and even worse 3G. Don’t know how they got good results in PTA survey.
Bad, Really bad news for Warid guys.
This is horrible news. Warid and Mobilink have seperate teams all over the country. Their vendors (Ericsson, Huawei, ZTE) have seperate teams. Their fueling, maintenance, installation, dismantling is being done by seperate. The merger will literally make hundreds of thousands of people jobless
its a Warid’s WAR and Mobilink’s LINK – WARLINK to other mobile companies
No mobilink sucks!!! Shifted from mobilink to warid because of poor quality and now this!!!!!
For you:
Well i will shift to zong never going back to mobilink.
Now instead of one, Pakistan should invite two new cellular companies, oh one instaphone’s space? three
We need more mobile operators in Pakistan after this merger.
Please Govt launch a new auction to provide these companies
Vodaphone (UK) 2nd
Turkcel (Turkey) 26th
Orange (France) 11th
and MegaPhone (Russia) 27th
For God Sake Do it