Yoma takes majority share in Wave Money

10 January 2022
Yoma takes majority share in Wave Money
A signboard for mobile banking firm Wave Money at a telecommunications shop in downtown Yangon. Photo: AFP

Norwegian telecom operator Telenor has agreed to divest its 51 percent stake in Wave Money, one of Myanmar's largest mobile payment services, according to local media reports.

Telenor has been struggling to leave Myanmar. It has sold its share to partner Yoma Strategic Holdings Group, a group owned by magnate Serge Pun and listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, according to Nikkei Asia Japan.

The sale means that Yoma Group, which is also a favorite to buy Telenor’s broader assets, now owns up to 75 percent of Wave Money.

The Myanmar coup and the violence has prompted a number of foreign investors and foreign nationals to leave the country, just over a decade after the country gradually began to open up and roll out the red carpet for foreign investment.