TeliaSonera to exist from NST

KATHMANDU, SEP 11 - TeliaSonera , the parent company of Ncell, has decided to take exit from its ownership in Nepal Satellite Telecom (NST), operator of Hello Nepal brand, citing “regulatory reasons”.

The Swedish multinational company has reached an agreement to sell back its indirect ownership in the NST to Zhodar Investment, booking a loss of Swedish kronor 400 million (equivalent to Rs 6.19 billion) from the deal.

Zhodar Investment is a company based in the British Virgin Islands. Over the past year, uncertainty regarding the regulatory and legal environment for consolidation and granting of licences in Nepal has increased, according to a press release issued by TeliaSonera on Wednesday. “Pursuing an acquisition of the NST is therefore not considered possible for regulatory reasons.”

TeliaSonera had acquired shares ownership from Cyprus based Airbell Services that has 50 percent stake in the NST. “The agreement enables TeliaSonera to concentrate on Ncell, which reduces the business risk and complexity of TeliaSonera ’s total involvement in Nepal,” the release states. The Swedish company’s effective ownership of 57 percent in the NST was the result of acquisitions made in 2011 and 2012.


Last year, top officials of the TeliaSonera had visited Nepal and announced of investment in the NST to strengthen operations in Nepal with a complementary brand for Ncell targeting rural areas. The remaining 50 percent of the NST share are shared among -- Muktishree Telecom 40 percent, Samjhana Aryal (Lalitpur) 5 percent, Pakistan Mobile Communications 3 percent and Bangladesh based Sheba Telecom owns 2 percents, as per the records at the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA).

The NST has subscriber base of 149,000 and provides telecom service in 273 village development committees of the Mid-western region. The NTA officials said that the company has been working to expand the service additional areas of Mid-western region and take to Far-western region too.

TeliaSonera owns 80 percent investment in Ncell, the leading telecom company of the country. Ncell recorded sales of Swedish Kronor 2.7 billion in 2012, according to the company. By last fiscal year 2012-13, the total number of its subscriber base had increased to 10.5 million.