The Collapse of Ncell-Axiata’s $500 Million Claim Against the Nepal Government

The big telecom company Ncell, currently owned by the Axiata Group, recently faced a major setback. They had a big money dispute of $500 million (~Rs. 66 Billion) with the Nepal Government, but their claim fell flat. All this trouble is over taxes that should have been paid when Axiata bought Ncell from another company, Telia Sonera, back in 2016.

To avoid taxes in Nepal, the deal was set up in a way that another company’s shares, based in the tax-friendly country of Saint Kitts and Nevis, were transferred instead. This company, Reynolds Holdings Limited, was the main holding company for Ncell. So technically, Ncell’s shares in Nepal were not touched, but in reality, control of Ncell moved over to Axiata.