Optus’ parent Singtel will take advice from some of the most powerful people in Singapore as it considers selling part of the Australian telecommunications group.
The future of Singtel’s Optus business will be decided by some of the most powerful people in Singapore as it considers selling off part of the Australian telecommunications group in a move that would boost financial returns for its sovereign backer.reported it was in talks to offload the telecommunications group to Canadian investor Brookfield, which narrowly missed out on buying Origin Energy last year.
Singtel has previously underlined that Mr Lee is not a Temasek nominee. But Mr Lee is well-connected; during his eight years on the Temasek board, he has worked with key figures including Ho Ching, the wife of Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.Depending on the size of the transaction, a part or full Optus divestment would likely have to go to a shareholder vote.
Singtel is not under financial pressure to sell Optus – it has a strong balance sheet. But it wants to boost its share price and return capital. In November, it told analysts that its ongoing asset recycling program had yielded $S7 billion and it planned to “unlock” a further $S4 billion in the next two to three years.
And last week Singtel lost a bid to get almost $895 million deducted from its taxable income in Australia in a Federal Court victory forSingtel is understood to have become more deeply involved in the day-to-day running of Optus since Ms Bayer Rosmarin’s departure. The boss of Optus Networks’ business, Lambo Kanagaratnam, resigned last week.
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