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| Business |
| PCL, Telekom Malaysia discuss 60% TNM shares |
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by
Taonga Sabola, 30 June 2006
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07:12:17
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Press Corporations Limited (PCL) says discussions are at an advanced stage outside the court to resolve the issue of who gets the 60 percent shares in local mobile phone network operator Telekom Networks Malawi Limited (TNM) which were controversially sold to Zimbabwean-owned Econet Wireless Group.
PCL recently acquired controlling stakes in the Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) through its Telecom Holdings Limited (THL).
THL-an investment vehicle led by PCL-automatically took over 40 percent shares in TNM having bought MTL, Telekom Malaysia’s local partner.
PCL Board Chairman Dean Lungu confirmed the development in an interview on the sidelines of the conglomerate’s Annual General Meeting in Blantyre on Wednesday.
“We are having discussions out of court on the issue and I can assure you that the negotiations are at an advanced stage,” said Lungu.
Telekom Malaysia’s lawyer James Tomoka also confirmed that the two parties are indeed having discussions on the issue.
In his report to shareholders, Lungu said as part of efforts to diversify its investments portfolio, PCL is pursuing a sizable portion of the 60 percent shares in TNM through its subsidiary, MTL.
“Press Corporation Limited is pursuing a sizeable portion of the remaining 60 percent of Telekom Networks Malawi,” wrote Lungu in the report.
He said if successful, the acquisition of the remaining 60 percent of TNM will further strengthen the Press Group’s portfolio of investments and enhance its earnings capability.
Late January this year Telekom Malaysia announced that it had sold its 60 percent shares in TNM which it had been holding since the inception of the company in 1995 to Econet in a deal worth US$25.5 million (about K3.43 billion ) as part of its strategic decision to concentrate on markets in Asia, having done the same with Telkom South Africa in 2004.
The move did not go down well with PCL who were supposed to be given a chance to exercise its pre-emptive rights before the shares were sold to anybody else according to a Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) signed between Telekom Malaysia and Malawi Posts and Telecommunications Corporation, MTL’s fore runner.
This resulted in PCL taking Telekom Malaysia to court in February for failure to abide by the agreed principles. Since then, the case has been going on at a snail’s pace.
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