VimpelCom, together with Warid Telecom Pakistan and Bank Alfalah (Dhabi Group shareholders), have announced the completion of the transaction to merge Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited (Mobilink) and Warid Telecom (Warid), creating Pakistan's next generation digital telecommunications provider. Over 50 million customers in Pakistan will benefit from high-speed mobile telecommunications and a best-in-class digital mobile network.
Mobilink has completed the acquisition of 100 percent of Warid's shares, and the Dhabi Group Shareholders have acquired 15 percent of the shares of Mobilink. With the completion of the merger transaction, Mobilink now enters the next major phase of its transformation and CEO Jeffrey Hedberg will hand over the CEO role of Mobilink and Warid to Aamir Ibrahim, currently CCO and Deputy CEO of Mobilink. Aamir will drive forward and execute the Mobilink and Warid integration, supported by a world-class transformation team from the VimpelCom Group. The legal merger of the two companies, which will result in one merged legal entity having the same board, and management described above, is expected to be completed within six months, subject to the fulfillment of the required legal processes in Pakistan. Mobilink and Warid will shortly file a petition to the Islamabad High Court in order to commence the process of legal merger.
The combined Mobilink and Warid entity will be the telecommunications provider of 2G, 3G and LTE services in Pakistan, providing higher quality national voice and data coverage, faster downloads, and a wider portfolio of products and services. Mobilink and Warid will benefit from VimpelCom's USD 1 billion investments into building one of the largest and most ambitious IT infrastructures in the industry. The group's new digital systems will enable faster roll-out of new local products and services, particularly in the areas of mobile entertainment, communications, the Internet of Things, and mobile financial services. The move is expected to further reduce the digital divide.
VimpelCom, GTH and Dhabi Group announced the agreement to combine their Pakistan telecommunication businesses on 26 November 2015. The completion of the transaction follows regulatory approval from all the relevant authorities and the subsequent exchange of shares.
