The Islamabad High Court has approved the amalgamation of Telenor Pakistan Private Limited into Pak Telecom Mobile Limited, clearing the final legal hurdle for Pakistan’s most consequential telecom merger and setting the stage for the retirement of two of the country’s most recognised mobile brands. Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro sanctioned the Scheme of Amalgamation under Sections 279 to 283 and 285(8) of the Companies Act, 2017, holding that the merger met all legal requirements, was fair to shareholders and creditors, and was not against the public interest. The court noted that all secured creditors of both companies had unanimously approved the merger after submitting their no-objection certificates, and that the International Finance Corporation consortium had separately filed its no-objection certificate before the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.
According to the court-approved scheme, the entire undertaking of Telenor Pakistan will be transferred and vested into PTML as a going concern, with PTCL’s entire shareholding in Telenor Pakistan cancelled as part of the process. After completion, Telenor Pakistan will stand dissolved without winding up and its name will be struck off from the records of the Registrar of Companies. The IHC approval came after PTA had already issued the final no-objection certificate for the merger in March 2026, paving the way for the formal legal process that culminates in today’s court sanction. Shareholders of both PTML and Telenor Pakistan had unanimously endorsed the scheme at separate meetings held on June 5, 2026, with all procedural requirements, including public notices and advertisements, duly complied with and no objections received from any shareholder, creditor, or member of the public.
The merged entity will carry approximately 70 million subscribers, positioning it as Pakistan’s second-largest mobile operator, just behind Jazz which currently leads with approximately 74 million monthly active subscribers. As of May 2026, Telenor held 21.26 percent of Pakistan’s cellular market while Ufone held 14.65 percent, a combined 35.91 percent that places the merged operator within a fraction of Jazz’s 36.42 percent share and significantly ahead of Zong’s 26.62 percent. The combined spectrum holdings, tower network of approximately 26,000 sites, and unified back-office operations create a significantly more formidable competitor than either operator was independently, with the operational integration of two mobile networks expected to proceed in phases over the coming months and years.
Most significantly for Pakistan’s mobile consumers, both the Ufone and Telenor brands are set to be retired once the integration process is completed, with the combined operator adopting the e& identity as part of UAE-based e& group’s global branding strategy. The rebranding marks the end of the Telenor name in Pakistan after nearly two decades in the market, while Ufone’s standalone identity, active since 2001, will also cease as the combined operator transitions to the e& platform. For customers, the immediate experience will be uninterrupted, with existing SIM cards, numbers, packages, and mobile services continuing during the transition period, as PTA’s conditions mandate that customers must be offered the option to continue using existing packages for at least three months after the merger. The long-term implications for Pakistan’s telecom market are structural: a three-player market featuring Jazz, e& Pakistan, and Zong represents a significantly more concentrated competitive landscape than the four-way competition the country has had for the past two decades.
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