Singtel to sell 70% stake in Australian tower assets for A$1.9b; enters new regional tie-ups

Yong Jun Yuan

Published Fri, Oct 1, 2021 · 10:12 AM

SINGTEL looks set to take advantage of the growing demand for data centre capacity in South-east Asia as it leverages its local experience in the field to grow its data-centre platform abroad.

On Friday, the telco announced a conditional agreement to sell a 70 per cent stake in Australia Tower Network (ATN), which operates telecommunications towers for Singtel's Australian telco subsidiary Optus, for A$1.9 billion (S$1.88 billion) in cash.

The transaction gives ATN, which owns 2,312 mobile network towers and rooftop sites, an enterprise value of A$2.3 billion, Singtel said. The buyer, AS Infra Tower, is a unit of a superannuation fund in Australia.

The consideration of A$1.9 billion consists of A$900 million to be paid by AS Infra, A$500 million as a return of capital by ATN to Singtel, and A$500 million as r…