Hot stock: M1 continues to soar on reports of more Chinese bidders

M1 share price continues to extend recent gains on Thursday as more Chinese bidders emerged as potential buyers of the Singapore mobile operator.

After rising almost 5 per cent to S$2.19 a share on Thursday morning, M1 was trading around S$2.16 by 12:11pm, up 7 Singapore cents, or 3.35 per cent. This compares to its S$2.04 close on Friday.

Shanxi Meijin Energy Co and China Broadband are reported to have separately submitted first-round offers for M1, which has a market value of about S$1.9 billion. Bahrain Telecommunications Co and private equity funds have also made non-binding bids, Bloomberg reported.

Axiata Group has a 28.54 per cent stake in M1, while Keppel Corp has a 19.23 per cent holding and SPH owns 13.38 per cent, according to SGX StockFacts. The three have appointed Morgan Stanley to help explore options including a sale of the telecom operator, according to March filings.