South Africa’s MTN Group has announced that it has agreed to sell its Afghan division to Lebanese investment firm M1 New Ventures for a gross consideration of USD35 million. The transaction is subject to conditions, including the conclusion of a transition agreement and regulatory approvals.
The development forms part of MTN’s long term plans to exit the Middle East region and, as previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, follows the group’s exit from the Syrian and Yemeni markets in August and November 2021, respectively. For its part M1 acquired the mobile business of Norway’s Telenor Group in Myanmar in March this year, in partnership with local conglomerate Shwe Bain Phyu (SBP) Group. The pair renamed the cellco Atom Myanmar in June.