Shares in Maxis went up 1.44% to 3.52 at midday after rumours appeared in the international media that main shareholders of Maxis and U Mobile have been in discussion of a possible acquisition deal.
Yesterday, (16 July), foreign media reported that Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan the main owner of Maxis Berhad had offered to Tan Sri Vincent Tan of U Mobile to acquire U Mobile for an undisclosed amount. However, in a later report it was revealed that Vincent Tan had rejected the offer and said he will be floating his telecommunication entity end of this month instead.
The acquisition talk comes after all mobile network operators signed the share sale agreement with Digital Nasional Berhad for 5G and will be looking to form alliances for the second 5G network. Currently, CelcomDigi plays a dominant role as the largest MNO in the country after they merged which had left Maxis in an awkard position, the merger rumour could be an avenue for Tan Sri Ananda to regain a stronghold and give CelcomDigi some competition.
U Mobile has supposedly 8.5 million subscriber base and is known for its strong prepaid market.