Axiata Group Berhad (commonly known as Axiata, formerly known as TM International Berhad), is a

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

n multinational

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

conglomerate with extensive operations in Asia.

The group

Axiata's primary business is investment holding and provisioning of telecommunication and consultancy services on an international scale. It mainly focuses on

emerging market An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or we ...

s in

ASEAN The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its member states r ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

. Formerly known as TM International Bhd (TMI), the company was incorporated on 12 June 1992 and was the mobile and international operations arm of Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM). Following the de-merger of TMI from TM, the company was listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad in 2008. On 2 April 2009, TMI underwent a rebranding exercise, launching its new name, Axiata, and a new logo. Its new tagline, Advancing Asia, was also launched, reflecting the company's focus on expansion within Asia. Axiata controls interests in mobile operators across

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

and

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

. The Group also has stakes in non-mobile telecommunication operations in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. Their Board of Directors includes: * Tan Sri Shahril Ridza Ridzuan - Chairman, Independent Non-Executive Director * Vivek Sood - Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director * Dato Dr Nik Ramlah Nik Mahmood - Senior Independent Non-Executive Director * Dr David Robert Dean - Independent Non-Executive Director * Khoo Gaik Bee - Independent Non-Executive Director * Maya Hari - Independent Non-Executive Director * Amrit Kaur - Independent Non-Executive Director * Thayaparan S Sangarapillai - Independent Non-Executive Director * Dr Farid Mohamed Sani - Non-Independent Non-Executive Director, Representative of Khazanah Nasional Berhad * Shahin Farouque Jammal Ahmad - Non-Independent Non-Executive Director, Representative of Permodalan Nasional Berhad * Mohamad Hafiz Kassim - Non-Independent Non-Executive Director, Representative of Employees Provident Fund

Subsidiary holdings

On their website in 2019, it was announced that Axiata had approximately 150 million subscribers across Asia and Group revenue of MYR25.3 billion (US$5.77 billion) in 2018. It was also reported that the company employed 12,000 people throughout eleven countries. Axiata's mobile subsidiaries and associates operate under the brand name CelcomDigi in Malaysia, XLSmart in Indonesia, Dialog in Sri Lanka, Robi in Bangladesh, and Smart in Cambodia. The company formerly operated under the brand name Ncell in Nepal (acquisition from TeliaSonera completed on 12 April 2016), M1 in Singapore, and

Idea In philosophy and in common usage, an idea (from the Greek word: ἰδέα (idea), meaning 'a form, or a pattern') is the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophe ...

in India. On 4 January 2018, ''

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...

'' reported that Axiata was planning a domestic

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

of its tower subsidiary edotco. The IPO was expected to raise as much as $500 million. On 15 February 2019, Axiata sold off its entire shares in 'M1' to Konnectivity Pte Ltd for RM1.65 billion, citing the need for capital reallocation and new priorities in line with its vision to be the Next Generation Digital Champion by 2022. On 21 June 2021, Axiata,

Telenor Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwi ...

and Digi agreed to a potential merger of Celcom and Digi to create a stronger telco in Malaysia, coming after advanced discussions that took place two months earlier. The merger was expected to be completed by the end of 2022. The deal was approved by both Celcom and Digi shareholders on 18 November 2022. The merged company would be named CelcomDigi. At completion, Axiata and Telenor would hold equal ownership of 33.1% each in the newly merged company. The merger completed on 30 November 2022, and the new company began operations the next day. On 1 December 2023, the United Kingdom-based Spectrlite UK Limited acquired 100 percent ownership of Reynolds Holdings Limited from Axiata UK of Axiata Group Berhad. Reynolds owns an 80 percent equity stake in Ncell.

Competitors

Axiata Group meets main competitors across the Indonesian market ( Telkomsel). In 2019, Axiata held second place in Indonesia. In Bangladesh, Axiata ( Robi) also held second place, and the main competitor was

(

Grameenphone Grameenphone LTD, widely abbreviated as ( d/b/a) GP, is a telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh. As of December 2023, its subscribers span over 82.20 million. It is a joint venture between Telenor and Grameen Telecom. Where Telen ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Malaysian companies established in 1992 2008 initial public offerings Government-owned companies of Malaysia Companies listed on Bursa Malaysia Telecommunications companies of Malaysia Telecommunications companies established in 1992 Mobile phone companies of Malaysia Multinational companies headquartered in Malaysia Companies based in Kuala Lumpur Corporate spin-offs Malaysian brands Khazanah Nasional Permodalan Nasional Berhad Employees Provident Fund (Malaysia)