Australian incumbent telco Telstra has confirmed it is in talks to acquire Asia-focused data centre and undersea cable operator Pacnet.
Telstra confirmed the discussions in response to a Bloomberg report that said it was nearing a deal that would see it…
Australian incumbent telco Telstra has confirmed it is in talks to acquire Asia-focused data centre and undersea cable operator Pacnet.
Telstra confirmed the discussions in response to a Bloomberg report that said it was nearing a deal that would see it buy more than 46,000km of submarine cable between Asia and the US.
“There is no certainty that any transaction will take place as a result of these discussions,” the Australian telco said today in a stock exchange filing.
Pacnet’s owners, which include Ashmore Investment Management, Spinnaker Capital and Clearwater Capital Partners, were reported in June to have hired Credit Suisse to run a sale with a valuation of about US$1bn, including debt.
Hong Kong-based backhaul operator Citic Telecom, whose CEO recently announced plans to step down at the start of 2015, was reported to have also been interested in Pacnet earlier this year.
Telstra’s interest comes not long after its CEO David Thodey said the company planned to use a war chest of up to A$5.1bn (US$4.5bn) to expand in Asia.
Pacnet has headquarters in Hong Kong and Singapore, and more than 1,200 employees across 13 countries, including Australia, China, the Netherlands, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and the US.
It declined to comment on the matter.
