Telco giant Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) is planning to spend as much as S$2bn (US$1.6bn) by 2016 to buy companies in the digital sector.
Commenting on its Q4 2012 results, the operator also said that it will continue to review investment…
Telco giant Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) is planning to spend as much as S$2bn (US$1.6bn) by 2016 to buy companies in the digital sector.
Commenting on its Q4 2012 results, the operator also said that it will continue to review investment opportunities, “including increasing its stakes in the existing associates and investing in large under-penetrated telecoms markets.”
SingTel is already present in Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, India and the Philippines, and is looking to get into Myanmar by acquiring a licence. It, however, recently exited its investment in Warid Pakistan.
In September last year, the telco announced it would foray further into the OTT segment, as it aims to become a catch-all multimedia and communications technology group.
It said, at the time, that it was interested in investing in start-ups and had a S$200m (US$162.6m) venture capital fund for that purpose.
The strategy is in line with the company’s acquisition of Amobee, a US/Israel-based provider of mobile advertising services to operators, publishers and advertisers, for US$321m a year ago.
Back then, the Singaporean telco said the transaction was part of a wider strategy to gain momentum in the mobile content industry in face of growing competition from the likes of Apple and Google.
Today (15 May), SingTel reported a 33% drop in Q4 net profit to S$868m (US$696m), citing a one-time loss of S$225m (US$180m) from the divestment of Warid Pakistan. Its revenue was down 6% to S$4.48bn (US$3.59bn).
