Etisalat, the UAE-based telecoms group, has successfully sold shares equalling a 9.1% stake in Indonesian mobile operator XL Axiata for Rp6,300 (US$0.66) per share, or Rp4.88trn (US$508.6m) in total.
The placing of the 775 million shares, which was…
Etisalat, the UAE-based telecoms group, has successfully sold shares equalling a 9.1% stake in Indonesian mobile operator XL Axiata for Rp6,300 (US$0.66) per share, or Rp4.88trn (US$508.6m) in total.
The placing of the 775 million shares, which was conducted by way of an accelerated book-built offering to institutional investors, was oversubscribed, Etisalat stated in a notice to the Abu Dhabi securities exchange.
Etisalat is now left with a 4.2% stake in XL Axiata, against 13.3% before the share sale. Malaysia’s Axiata controls 66.6% of the Indonesian operator.
JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley acted as bookrunners on the transaction.
In March this year, rumoured began circulating that Etisalat was looking to sell its entire stake in XL Axiata for US$700m after failing to expand its partnership with Axiata. But a few months later, the telco said it decided against this move for the time being because of the company’s good performance.
Over the last few months, Etisalat has been looking to restructure its assets, including merging, selling or outsourcing some of its operations, in an attempt to cut costs. It also said it may increase its stake in several subsidiaries in order to boost revenues.
The company reported a 23% drop in its net profit to AED5.8bn (US$1.6bn) in 2011 compared to 2010.
