Telenor sold its Myanmar network for $105M after a $738M writedown

Telenor was one of the few Western companies to bet on Myanmar after it emerged from military dictatorship, and grew into one of the country's biggest foreign investors; Myanmar accounted for 7% of the group's earnings in 2020.

After the February 1, 2021 military coup, the operating environment collapsed: on March 15 the junta ordered a nationwide shutdown of mobile data, and it banned senior telecom executives from leaving the country without permission while pressuring operators to fully implement intercept technology that would let authorities monitor users.

In May 2021 Telenor booked a 6.5-billion-crown ($738 million) loss on the business, and in July it sold its Myanmar operations to Lebanon's M1 Group for $105 million. CEO Sigve Brekke gave three reasons for selling: 'it is the safety of our employees, but also the regulatory conditions and also that there is good compliance.'

The buyer drew fire from activists, who said they had relied on Telenor as the one operator that respected human rights — the alternatives were state-backed MPT and Mytel, which is part-owned by a military-linked company. M1 Group was a major investor in tower firm Irrawaddy Green Towers, which holds a master lease with military-backed Mytel.

Telenor booked a 6.5-billion-crown ($738M) loss in May 2021, then sold the whole Myanmar operation for $105M; the country had contributed 7% of group earnings.

Telenor's expansion case rested on a political opening — a country emerging from dictatorship — that a single coup could and did reverse.

As one of only two foreign operators, Telenor absorbed the junta's squeeze directly: data shutdowns, executive exit bans and intercept demands.

Selling into a crisis meant accepting a distressed price; Danske Bank's analyst called the $105 million tag low given Myanmar's contribution to earnings.

The buyer choice traded reputational risk for exit speed: M1's tower interests were entangled with the military-backed operator activists feared.

A market bet can outlive its politics: Telenor priced Myanmar's growth but not the durability of its opening — and once the coup came, the only decision left was how cheaply and how cleanly to leave.

Investors with human-rights mandates backed the retreat — DNB Asset Management, Telenor's sixth-largest holder with a 1.51% stake, said it was positive the company 'did not compromise on their basic principles'. Activists warned the network's users had lost the operator they trusted most; Telenor shares were unchanged on the announcement day.