Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), the country’s largest telco, has increased its stake in Thai mobile operator Advanced Info Service (AIS) by about 2%.
In a filing to the Singapore Stock Exchange, SingTel said that it bought 61 million AIS…
Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), the country’s largest telco, has increased its stake in Thai mobile operator Advanced Info Service (AIS) by about 2%.
In a filing to the Singapore Stock Exchange, SingTel said that it bought 61 million AIS shares, representing a 2.05% stake, from Thailand’s conglomerate Shin Corp.
It said it would pay a maximum of Bt130 (US$4.23) per share, or Bt7.93bn (US$258m) in total.
SingTel now has a 23.32% interest in AIS, while Shin Corp’s stake in the company has been reduced to approximately 40.45%.
The deal is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval. “The purchase consideration was arrived at on a willing-seller willing-buyer basis, based on, inter alia, the prevailing market price for AIS shares, and will be payable in cash upon completion of the acquisition,” SinTel added.
The stake increase is reportedly part of SingTel’s strategy to maximise the value of its stakes in companies.
In April this year, the telco increased its shareholding in India’s Bharti Airtel to 32.25% by purchasing 2.83 million shares for Rs934m (US$19m).
Before that, in January, SingTel had already bought about four million shares in Bharti Airtel for Rs1.36bn (US$28m), increasing its stake in the company from 32.04% to 32.15%.
More recently, SingTel has denied that it was in talks with PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) to sell its 35% stake in mobile unit Telkomsel in Indonesia.
Besides Telkomsel, Bharti Airtel and AIS, SingTel also has stakes in Philippines-based Globe Telecom, Pacific Bangladesh Telecom, and Pakistan’s Warid Telecom.
