Qatari Ooredoo eyes 30 percent of Indonesian market after Hutchison deal completes

Qatari Ooredoo eyes 30 percent of Indonesian market after Hutchison deal completes

Ooredoo QSC, Qatar's biggest listed telecom company, is eyeing as much as 30 percent of the market share in Indonesia after completing a merger involving its unit in the country.

CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. and Ooredoo started talks last year to combine their Indonesian wireless phone businesses to fend off competition in Southeast Asia's biggest market by subscribers.

Ooredoo has a 65 percent stake in PT Indosat, which surged as much as 16 percent in Jakarta on Thursday, taking gains this year to more than 30 percent.

Vodafone, which owns and operates networks in 22 countries, will compete with Omantel and Ooredoo in the sultanate

Negotiations are ongoing and the companies are awaiting regulatory approvals, Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, Ooredoo's managing director, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “Hopefully we will get there by the end of this year.” Ooredoo shares rose 0.6 percent in Doha.

In 2020, “Indosat managed to be the number two player in Indonesia, with market share around 17 percent,” Fakhroo said. “The combination with Hutch will put us as a clear number two, taking us to 27-30 percent revenue market share in Indonesia.”

Ooredoo has a 65 percent stake in PT Indosat

Indosat is also nearing completion of the sale of 4,000