Telekom shareholders consent to Celcom purchase

The shareholders of Telekom Malaysia yesterday gave their approval for the USD1 billion purchase of mobile operator Celcom, at the same time voting for up to four billion ringgit (USD1.1 billion) of bonds to be sold to finance the takeover. Last week Celcom’s shareholders gave their blessing for the deal to proceed, with the exception of Deutsche Telekom (DT), which owns 8% of Celcom but has refused the MYR2.75 a share being offered by Telekom Malaysia. At that price DT’s stake is worth MYR426 million, but the German PTO is holding out for MYR7 a share, which it claims it is entitled to under the original terms of its purchase of Celcom shares. Despite the protest, Telekom chairman Radzi Mansor said yesterday that he expected to merge Celcom into Telekom’s mobile unit within 18 months. He added that the new entity will represent around 35% of Telekom’s revenues, up from 19% last year.