China Mobile to buy Telenor Pakistan?

China Mobile is reportedly in talks with Norway’s Telenor concerning an acquisition of their Pakistani mobile network. Both companies are denying such development, yet sources told the local Dawn newspaper that negotiations were being held secretly at the group level.

According to some statistics, the combined customer base of China Mobile (NYSE: CHL)’s and Telenor’s Pakistani operations is around 26 million, representing a 28% of the market.

For the record, China Mobile entered the Pakistani market in 2007, when it paid $460 million to buy Paktel from Millicom International. Previously, they had tried to acquire Warid Telecom, another smaller operator in the country, but failed to reach an agreement on the price.

China Mobile’s Pakistan subsidiary is called Zong and with just under 6 million customers, it is the smallest of the 5 main operators in the country.

[Via: CellularNews]