Brookfield in talks to buy Optus from Singtel
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: Brookfield is reportedly in advanced talks to by Optus from Singapore's largest carrier, Singtel. Citing unnamed sources, the Australian Financial Review reports that the deal is expected to value Optus at between $16 billion and $18 billion.
The numbers: Shares in Singapore Telecommunications climbed over 4% on Wednesday, its biggest gains in almost two years, before the Singapore Stock Exchange halted trading.
The context: Brookfield could bring a consortium partner such as the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board into the deal, according to the AFR.
In a slightly diverging report, The Australian reports that Singtel is in advanced talks to acquire a large stake of Optus, rather than the whole company.
Singtel responded to the media coverage via a statement to the Singapore Stock Exchange which says: “There is no impending deal to offload Optus for the said sum, as reported. Optus remains an integral and strategic part of the Singtel Group and we are committed to Australia for the long term.”
Singtel has since published a request to lift its trading halt from 08:30 SGT Thursday.
Optus came under fire in 2023 after a widespread outage following a cyberattack exposed the personal data of millions of customers. Optus’ revenue slid over 5% in the December quarter and last week ACMA slapped the company with a $1.5 million penalty for breaches of public safety rules.
The sources: Singtel statement, Australian Financial Review
