Indosat merged with Hutchison's Tri in 2021, then grew EBITDA 23% by 2023

Indonesia's mobile market was a grind: Telkomsel dominated while Indosat Ooredoo (controlled by Qatar's Ooredoo with 65%) and CK Hutchison's Hutchison 3 Indonesia (Tri) fought for share as subscale challengers, each carrying network costs across the same archipelago without the revenue base to match.

In September 2021 the two parents agreed to merge their Indonesian units into Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, instantly the country's second-largest mobile operator with an estimated US$3 billion in annual revenue. CK Hutchison received newly issued Indosat shares equal to 21.8% of the merged company (plus 10.8% to PT Tiga Telekomunikasi Indonesia), then paid US$387 million to end up with 50% of the jointly held Ooredoo Hutchison Asia vehicle, which kept a controlling 65.6% of the operator.

The logic was explicitly scale: combined spectrum, procurement economies, and a single network rollout instead of two. Vikram Sinha of Indosat was named CEO of the merged company, with Nicky Lee of CK Hutchison as CFO.

Two years later the bet showed in the accounts. For FY2023 Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison reported total revenue up 10% to Rp51.2 trillion, EBITDA up 23% to Rp23.9 trillion, normalized EBITDA margin up 4.5 percentage points to 46.8%, and a normalized net profit of Rp3.5 trillion — positive for a third consecutive year — with mobile ARPU up 5.3% across nearly 100 million customers on its IM3 and Tri brands.

FY2023: revenue up 10% to Rp51.2T, EBITDA up 23% to Rp23.9T, margin up 4.5pp to 46.8%, normalized net profit Rp3.5T, ARPU up 5.3% to Rp35,000.

Both units were too small to fund nationwide networks alone; merging removed a duplicated cost base.

The 50/50 holding structure kept both parents invested in the upside instead of one exiting.

Combined spectrum and a single 4G rollout improved service quality where price cuts had not.

Management came from both sides, keeping IM3 and Tri brands live for different segments.

In a commoditising market with fixed-cost networks, merging two subscale players can create more value through cost structure and spectrum than either could win by competing.

IOH consolidated its No. 2 position behind Telkomsel, kept investing Rp12.7 trillion of capex in 2023 largely on rural 4G coverage, and later expanded into data centres and fibre, spinning off its fibre business as it extended the CEO's tenure. The deal became the reference case for Indonesian telecom consolidation.