PETALING JAYA: Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd is paying US$297mil for a 35.2% stake in Sri Lanka Telecom to pave the way for Maxis Communications Bhd’s much-awaited entry into the Sri Lanka telecoms market.
Yesterday, Usaha Tegas, via unit Global Telecommunications Holdings NV, paid a 22% premium – or 50.5 rupees per share – for the stake in Sri Lanka Telecom from Japan’s Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT). The premium was based on Sri Lanka Telecom’s stock closing price on Monday on the Colombo Stock Exchange.
Usaha Tegas also controls Maxis indirectly. Maxis also has stakes in telecom companies in Indonesia and India and talks of its interest to enter the Sri Lanka market have been on for more than a year.
According to Reuters, the deal valued Sri Lanka Telecom at US$844mil. Global Telecommunications would launch a mandatory offer for the remaining shares in Sri Lanka Telekom, of which 49.5% is owned by the government. The public holds the remaining 15.31%.
The sale saw Sri Lanka Telecom’s shares surge 16.4% to a record 48 rupees, which also gave a boost to the Colombo Stock Exchange, the wire agency said.
It added that Sri Lanka Telecom was among the biggest companies in the local exchange, accounting for about 10% of the market’s capitalisation. Its capitalisation was around 86.63 billion rupees after the deal, according to data from the bourse.
How Usaha Tegas will fund the acquisition or the mandatory offer is unclear as no details were provided.
Sri Lanka Telecom, formerly a government-owned company, controls 87% of the fixed-line network. NTT invested in the company in 1997, a year after Sri Lanka Telecom was incorporated as a public limited company. It was listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange in 2002.
According to its website, Sri Lanka Telecom acquired Mobitel, the third largest mobile operator, and it is the only integrated operator in Sri Lanka to offer fixed-line, data and mobile services.
No comments :
Post a Comment