Indonesian operator Indosat has said it is unable to comment on a local report that claimed it could buy smaller telecoms rival Hutchison 3 Indonesia in a US$395.26m deal.
The satellite and telecoms operator made the statement after the local stock…
Indonesian operator Indosat has said it is unable to comment on a local report that claimed it could buy smaller telecoms rival Hutchison 3 Indonesia in a US$395.26m deal.
The satellite and telecoms operator made the statement after the local stock exchange asked it to respond to the rumours reported by Indonesia Finance Today.
A deal would create the country’s second-largest mobile player, behind incumbent Telkom’s Telkomsel unit.
Hutchison 3 Indonesia is part of Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa’s Asian telecoms subsidiary, which also has operations in Vietnam and Sri Lanka. It holds mobile operations in Hong Kong and nearby Macau separately.
The Hong Kong group has been making waves in Europe’s telecoms sector over the past few years as a keen consolidator.
It agreed a US$15.4bn deal last month to buy UK mobile operator O2 and merge it with its local unit Three. If approved by regulators, that deal would come shortly after it completed similar four-to-three mobile mergers in Ireland and Austria.
Hutchison declined to comment on the speculation in Indonesia. The group is part of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s vast business empire, which is currently being restructured to carve out its real estate assets.
* Update 4 February 2015 *
Indosat CEO Alexander Rusli later said the company is not in talks to acquire Hutchison 3 Indonesia.
In comments confirmed by the company, he said there has never been discussions and did not know where the gossip started from.
