4/4/22, 12:17 PM 1/2 EXCLUSIVE Myanmar junta backs Telenor unit sale after buyer M1 pairs with local firm - sources | Reuters Telenor's logo is seen in central Belgrade, Serbia, March 21, 2018. REUTERS/Marko Djurica BANGKOK, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Lebanon's M1 Group will partner with a Myanmar firm to take over Norwegian telco Telenor's business in the Southeast Asian country after its military junta sought a local buyer, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Telenor, one of the biggest foreign investors in Myanmar, said in July it was selling its operations there to M1 Group for $105 million, retreating from a country that has slid into chaos after a military coup in February last year. Its exit has been mired in difficulties as the junta piles pressure on telecom and internet companies to install surveillance technology and bars senior executives from leaving the country. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Military leaders late last year rejected the sale solely to M1. Instead, they privately approved a partnership between M1 Group and Myanmar's Shwe Byain Phyu Group, the three sources said. Two of the sources said Shwe Byain Phyu would be the majority shareholder. They declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. Shwe Byain Phyu is a group of companies with interests in gem mining and petrol stations. Its chairman, Thein Win Zaw, is a director of Mahar Yoma Public Company, part of a consortium that has a stake in the military-owned telco Mytel, corporate records show. He did not respond to a request from Reuters for comment on the sale and his links to the military. An October order from the office of junta leader Min Aung Hlaing seen by Reuters instructed officials at the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the regulatory body, to reject the sale to M1 Group, which is owned by the family of Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati. The order did not state a reason but the sources familiar with the matter said the junta favoured a local buyer. Representatives of M1 Group, which is based in Beirut, did not immediately answer phone calls from Reuters seeking comment. A junta representative did not respond to requests for comment. The decision was not made public and one person briefed on the matter said it was not conveyed to Telenor. A spokesperson for Telenor said it was waiting for a response to its application for regulatory approval of the sale and declined to comment further. My View Following Saved https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/exclusive-myanmar-junta-backs-telenor-unit-sale-after-buyer-m1-pairs-with-local-2022-01-21/ 2/15