Telenor Group forged a deal to sell its majority stake in Myanmar mobile payments joint venture Wave Money to a group of investors led by Yoma Strategic Holdings for $53 million, Nikkei Asia reported.

The sale of the operator’s 51 per cent interest will give Yoma Group chairman Serge Pun a 75 per cent stake in Wave Money, the news agency stated. The deal is expected to close in the next few days.

A previous attempt in June 2020 to sell its stake in Wave Money to Yoma Strategic Holdings was never finalised, following Ant Financial dropping plans to invest in the venture.

The operator, First Myanmar Investment and Yoma Group launched Wave Money in November 2016.

The move comes as Norway-based Telenor looks for a buyer for its Myanmar mobile unit, after taking a massive write-down on the business in May 2021 amid a period of political unrest in the country.