Temasek’s final appeal rejected by Indonesia’s SC
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Singapore-based Temasek Holding’s final appeal against a decision by the country’s anti-monopoly authorities concerning its telecoms investments has been rejected by Indonesia’s Supreme Court.
Temasek Holdings has stakes in PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel) which Indonesia’s largest cellcos by subscribers and PT Indosat through its Singapore Technologies Telemedia STT unit. However, it was forced to sell its stake in Indosat to Qatar Telecom for USD1.35 billion, following the ruling by the Komisi Pengawas Persaingan Usaha (KPPU).
The anti-monopoly commission adjudged in 2007 that Temasek and its affiliates were in breach of Indonesia’s anti-monopoly laws and ordered the sale of one of their telecom units in Indonesia. According to a spokesman for the KPPU, the Supreme Court through its verdict on 5 May 2010, as written on its official website, states that it has rejected a judicial review, filed by Temasek, over the Supreme Court decision.
STT to buy stake in U Mobile & VNPT
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Malaysian cellco U Mobile stake will be taken up by Singapore Technologies Telemedia. The announcement for the strategic partnership agreement will be made by the two companies on Monday.
NTT DoCoMo and KTF were the earlier partners of U Mobile which exited the company and now ST Telemedia is widely expected to become the latest foreign investor in U Mobile.
10% stake in VNPT Global, the offshore arm of Vietnam’s VNPT Group has also been announced by ST Telemedia.
However, financial terms of the deal are still not disclosed. VNPT Global operates in Singapore, Hong Kong, USA and the Czech Republic.
Irish firm Eircom announces restructuring plans
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Major reorganization including a shift in business focus towards the open embrace of wholesale broadband opportunities and fibre upgrades for its mobile base stations has been planned by Eircom.
According to new incoming CEO Paul Donovan and Terry Clontz, the MD of new majority owners Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT), the former monopoly is poised to embark on a major overhaul that will make it ‘a force in wholesale, global IP transit, digital television and next generation mobile.
U Mobile’s 33% stake to be sold to STT (Malaysia)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A part of the stake is agreed to be sold by Berjaya Group, the single largest shareholder in U Mobile which is Malaysia’s fourth-placed mobile network operator. The stake will be acquired by Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT) in a deal worth around MYR626 million (USD183.81 million). STT is one of the major shareholders in Singaporean telco StarHub. The talks between two companies began in September 2009.
U Mobile’s hunt for a strategic investor would be ended by the completion of the deal. U Mobile needed an investor since September 2009 when Japan’s NTT DoCoMo and South Korea’s KT Corp announced to sell their combined 33% stake in the Malaysian cellco for USD200 million.
Orascom wants Temasek’s phone assets
SINGAPORE, OCT 17: Orascom Telecom Holding SAE, the largest mobile-phone company in West Asia and North Africa, said it is ‘‘interested” in buying telecommunications assets owned by Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte to expand in Asia.‘‘We believe in consolidation, we believe in having a footprint that’s coherent, like an Asian dominant footprint,” Orascom Chief Executive Officer Naguib Sawiris said in Singapore today. The Cairo-based company is interested in buying telecom assets in countries including Indonesia and Thailand, he said.
Any regional purchase would help Orascom meet its goal of becoming one of the world’s 10 largest telecommunications companies. Sawiris also said he wants to acquire 51% or more of Hutchison Telecommunications International and merge the two coms’ operations.
Sawiris, 52, ruled out the possibility of buying a stake in Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, Southeast Asia’s biggest phone operator, and would choose StarHub Ltd as ‘‘we prefer single assets that don’t belong to a group.” He said the company hasn’t held talks with Temasek.
Temasek, a Singapore government investment company, owns shares in Singapore Telecom as well as StarHub, Singapore’s second-biggest phone company. Temasek spokeswoman Lim Siow Joo declined to confirm whether any assets were for sale, saying the company is ‘‘unable to comment on market speculation.”
Telecommunications and media assets made up 26% of Temasek’s portfolio as of March 31, according to its latest annual report. The company also owns shares in PT Indosat, Indonesia’s second-biggest telephone company, Thai telecommunication holding company Shin Corp, Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte, and Global Crossing Ltd, a fiber-optic communications network operator.
Orascom is the biggest foreign shareholder in Hutchison Telecom with a 19.3% stake. Hutchison is a unit of Hutchison Whampoa, owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing. ‘‘Our ambition is to get to over 51% as a minimum,” Sawiris said in an interview. ‘‘We would be happy to increase our stake to a percentage where we can consolidate the assets.”
Orascom has the option of buying another 3.7% of Hutchison in the next 12 months, after paying $1.3 billion for the 19.3% stake, the company said in December.
Source- http://www.financialexpress.com
