• Telenor is further reducing its interest in Asia by exiting Thailand
• Arise Digital Technology to buy its True Corp stake for $3.93bn
• Telenor’s Asia assets will shrink to just two markets

Only days after concluding the divestment of its operation in Pakistan to PTCL, Telenor has announced the sale of its 30.3% stake in major Thai telco True Corp for 39bn Norwegian kroner ($3.93bn) to Arise Digital Technology. 

Telenor has owned a stake in True since the merger of its Thai operation, dtac, with True in 2023, with Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group also holding a 30.3% stake following the merger, with the remaining shares traded on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. 

True ended September 2025 with 46.9 million mobile customers (of which 15.5 million are 5G users) as well as 3.8 million broadband and 1.1 million pay TV customers. It is the joint mobile market leader in Thailand alongside AIS, which ended September last year with 46.3 million mobile customers. 

For the third quarter of 2025, True reported service revenues of 41.3bn Thai baht ($1.32bn), down by 0.6% year on year, while its EBITDA grew by 7.9% to 27bn Thai baht ($862m).

Telenor Group CEO Schilbred Fasmer noted: “Before the 2021 merger talks, our shareholding in Thailand was valued at NOK 12 billion. Today the value of our shareholding stands at some NOK 39 billion, based on the agreed sale price and the current exchange rate. Together with our partner True Corporation we have established market leadership in Thailand while also generating shareholder value.” 

Arise Digital Technology’s owner, Khun Suphachai Chearavanont, added: “We are committed to sustaining our positive momentum, delivering profitable growth and value creation in True in the years ahead. We appreciate the close cooperation we’ve had with Telenor in signing the definitive agreements.” 

The move marks the latest stage in Telenor’s exit from the Asia telecom market as the telco looks to “evolve into a more Nordic-centric provider of secure connectivity over time,” the company noted.

CEO Fasmer stated: “At our Capital Markets Day in November, we said that we looked for structural value creation opportunities in Asia. With the completion of the sale of Telenor Pakistan in December, and the agreement to sell our shares in True, we have taken big steps in delivering on that strategy.”

Telenor says the proceeds from the divestments in Pakistan and Thailand “will provide focus and resources for Telenor’s four strategic priorities towards 2030: Growth through customer excellence; technology-led transformation; tapering expenses; and focus on creating shareholder value.” 

The sale will be undertaken in two tranches: For further details and for more background on Telenor’s history in Thailand, see this press release. 

The True stake sale will leave Telenor with just two assets in Asia: A 33.1% stake in CelcomDigi in Malaysia; and a 55.8% stake in Grameenphone in Bangladesh. 

In the Nordics, Telenor has operations in Denmark, Finland and Sweden as well as its home market of Norway. It also operates a global IoT services unit, Telenor Connexion – see Telenor targets IoT growth with consolidation move.

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV