Telekom Malaysia kicked out of DNB’s SSA

29 August 2024

Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) said that Telekom Malaysia’s share subscription agreement (SSA) to buy a stake in DNB has been terminated after it failed to meet the deadline to finalise the SSA.

Telekom Malaysia signed its SSA – along with CelcomDigi, Maxis, U Mobile and YTL Power International – in December 2023 to take a 14% stake each in DNB for a collective 70% stake. While the other four telcos completed the SSA process at the end of June, TM received a deadline extension until 21 August, as it had to await approval from shareholders at an EGM on that date in accordance with its governance requirements.

However, Telekom Malaysia said that it needed more time to resolve matters related to the EGM and had applied to DNB on 18 July for another extension to the deadline. DNB rejected that application, as well as an appeal, and officially terminated the SSA. The tenure of Nik Azli Abu Zahar, its nominee to serve on the DNB board, has also ceased.

Telekom Malaysia’s ouster from DNB leaves CelcomDigi, Maxis, U Mobile and YTL with a 16.28% stake each in DNB for a collective 65.12% stake. The Minister of Finance (MOF) owns the remaining 34.88% stake in DNB, as well as a Special Share for a designated period. This allocation has been in place since June as a contingency in case Telekom Malaysia was unable to finalise its SSA.