In what it calls the largest telco merger in Southeast Asia by combined enterprise value of over USD 20 billion, Telco Asia announced the completion of the amalgamation of the telco operations of True and dtac in Thailand. On March 01, 2023, dtac successfully merged with true to form a new telecom-tech titan. The new company will operate under the name True Corporation, and the combined entity says it will provide innovative and efficient services to people across Thailand and play a key role in accelerating the country's digitalisation.
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Significant Milestone for Thailand's Telco Industry
Telenor said, "This merger is a significant milestone for Thailand's telco industry and for Telenor as a company. We are excited to join forces with CP Group." True Corp will serve around 60 million customers across mobile, broadband and TV services. According to Telenor Asia's Digital Lives Decoded 2022 study, digital adoption is strong in Thailand, with one in four people saying they are never without their mobile phone, and 82% of people in Thailand expect to increase their mobile phone usage over the coming years significantly more than in any other market surveyed.
For the financial year 2022, True Corporation served an estimated 55 million mobile customers, 5 million broadband connections and 3.2 million pay-tv subscribers and had EBITDA of USD 2.4 billion and revenues of USD 6.2 billion.
Equal Partnership
The integration team of employees from Telenor, dtac, True and CP Group worked tirelessly over 12 months to plan for the company's first day of operations seamlessly. Discussions around the merger have been in the works since 2020, and a shared vision between Telenor and CP Group led to this merger. Telenor and CP Group will be equal partners with a 30.3 per cent ownership stake in the new company.
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Telenor to be an Active Owner
According to the release, Telenor will be an active owner in the new company, bringing its advanced technology and research capabilities, access to global partners, including hyper scalers and OTT giants, and a continued focus on transparency of work with responsible business at its core.
True Corp and partners intend to raise USD 200 million in venture capital to accelerate and stimulate growth in Thailand's digital ecosystem, supporting promising digital startups focusing on new products and services that benefit Thai consumers.
