Axiata Group Berhad, commonly known as Axiata, is a Malaysian multinational telecommunications conglomerate with extensive operations in Asia. It is one of the largest wireless carriers in the country.
The group
Axiata’s primary business is in investment holding and the provision of telecommunication and consultancy services on an international scale. Their main focus being emerging markets in ASEAN and South Asia. Formerly known as TM International Bhd, the company was incorporated on 12 June 1992 and was the mobile and international operations arm of Telekom Malaysia Bhd. 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. Their new tagline, Advancing Asia, was also launched, reflecting the direction of the company in focusing their expansion within Asia Axiata has controlling interests in mobile operators in Malaysia, Nepal, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Cambodia. with significant strategic stakes in India and Singapore. The Group also has stakes in non-mobile telecommunication operations in Thailand and Pakistan. Their Board of Directors contains:
Tengku Dato’ Sri Azmil Zahruddin bin Raja Abdul Aziz - Non-Independent, Non-Executive Director
Dato' Mohd Izzadin Idris - Non-Independent, Non-Executive Director
Subsidiary holdings
In their website in 2019, it was announced that Axiata had approximately 150 million subscribers across Asia and Group revenue of MYR25.3 billion in 2018. It was also reported that the company employed 12,000 people in eleven countries. Axiata’s mobile subsidiaries and associates operate under the brand name ‘Celcom’ in Malaysia, ‘XL’ in Indonesia, ‘Dialog’ in Sri Lanka, ‘Robi’ in Bangladesh, ‘Smart’ in Cambodia, ‘Idea’ in India, 'Ncell' in Nepal, and until recently, ‘M1’ in Singapore. On February 15, 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.
Country
Brand
Ownership
Robi
68.7%
Smart
100%
Vodafone Idea Limited
8.17%
Ncell
80%
XL
66.55%
Celcom
100%
Dialog
83.32%
On 4 January 2018, Bloomberg reported that Axiata is planning a domestic IPO of its tower subsidiary Edotco. The IPO is expected to raise as much as $500 million.
Competitors
Axiata Group meets main competitors across the Indonesian market. In 2019, Axiata held second place in Indonesia. In Bangladesh, Axiata also held second place, and the main competitor is Telenor.