Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom service provider and Axiata Group Berhad (Axiata), a Malayasian telecom provider will merge their operations in Bangladesh.

The company said, "Airtel Bangladesh and Axiata have entered into an exclusive discussion to explore the possibility of combining the business operations of their telecommunication subsidiaries in Bangladesh; namely, Robi Axiata and Airtel Bangladesh."

"There is no certainty that this discussion will lead into the execution of binding definitive agreements between the parties. This announcement is to facilitate the on-going discussions and exchanges of information between the parties, including but not limited to discussions with the relevant regulatory authorities," it added

The joint entity will be the second largest telecom service provider in Bangladesh.

Shares of the company declined Rs 3.7, or 1.04%, to trade at Rs 351.50. The total volume of shares traded was 67,747 at the BSE (11.05 a.m., Thursday).