OSLO: The Norwegian and Malaysian telecoms groups Telenor and Axiata said Monday they would merge their Malaysian operations into a group worth around $12 billion.

Celcom, which is owned by Axiata and Digi, owned by Telenor, would form a company whose name was not immediately revealed and in which each parent group would hold a stake of 33.1 percent, a statement said.

The remaining shares are to be listed on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange.

Excluding savings to be made through the merger, the new company is estimated to have a market capitalisation "of close to 50 billion ringgit" or $12 billion, the statement said.

It is expected to serve 19 million clients and make a net annual profit of 1.9 billion ringgit on 12.4 billion in sales.