The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has advanced the merger application of Telenor Pakistan with PTCL to the next phase, granting the essential preliminary approvals required for the merger to proceed.

As reported by ProPakistani, the proposed merger between Telenor and PTCL has successfully passed the initial review by the CCP and has now entered the second and final phase.

Following this phase, the antitrust body is expected to provide final approval for the merger.

Industry insiders suggest that if the CCP intends to reject a merger, such a decision typically occurs during the first phase. The progression of the Telenor-PTCL merger to the second phase strongly indicates a likely approval.

The first phase is critical as it assesses the post-merger market dynamics, potential impacts on consumers and other industry stakeholders. Advancing past this phase suggests that the CCP believes the merger is unlikely to adversely affect market competition significantly.

It is noteworthy that a similar pr
ocedural path was followed in the Warid-Mobilink merger, which also moved to the second phase after initial approval.

The CCP’s notes from the first phase approval of the Warid-Jazz merger had highlighted concerns about potential competition elimination, which closely mirrors the concerns noted in the Telenor-PTCL merger’s documentation. However, these concerns are the basis of moving the application to phase 2 for more deliberation.

Not to mention, PTCL applied with CCP for a merger with Telenor earlier this year.

An outcome of this mandatory approval from CCP is expected within the next two months, after which the merger application will move to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for other needed regulatory approvals.

Not to mention, the entire length of the merger of both companies could take up to 18 to 24 months after PTA’s green light.

Source: Pro Pakistani