Muted response to deals by SingTel's Amobee

SINGAPORE Telecommunications' US$359 million acquisition of digital advertising companies Adconion and Kontera through its digital advertising arm Amobee met with fairly muted market reaction after the purchase was announced on Wednesday.

Yesterday, SingTel shares traded mostly flat at $3.86. The stock opened trading unchanged at $3.86 and inched up a cent shortly after to reach the day's high of $3.87. In the early afternoon, it fell to a low of $3.84, but crept back up to close unchanged at $3.86.

Analysts The Business Times spoke to were in wait-and-see mode, saying SingTel has made a good bet, but that it is still early days - given that the management has given the currently-loss-making Amobee three to five years to become profitable and contribute to the telco's bottomline.