The Myanmar junta is prepared to endorse Telenor’s sale to the Lebanese M1 Group after the firm partnered with conglomerate Shwe Byain Phyu, according to Reuters.

Telenor, one of the biggest foreign investors in Myanmar, said in July 2021 it was selling its operations there to M1 Group for $105 million, retreating from a country that has slid into chaos after a military coup in February last year.

Telenor exit was beset with difficulties as the Myanmar Military Council put pressure on telecom and internet companies to install surveillance technology and barred senior executives from leaving the country. The junta had rejected the sale solely to M1.

Shwe Byain Phyu reportedly, has significant interests in the Kachin jade trade and began trading oil and gas for sanctioned military conglomerate, Myanma Economic Holdings Ltd (MEHL).

Reuters reports that the group’s owner, Thein Win Zaw, also holds a stake in the military’s Mytel telecom through the Mahar Yoma Public Company.