Keppel shares drop 2.1% after M1-Simba deal falls through
Shares of Simba parent Tuas Ltd are down over 60% on the ASX
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[SINGAPORE] Shares of Keppel fell as much as 5 per cent on Monday (May 18) morning after the M1-Simba deal fell through.
The counter dropped to S$10.07 as at 10.04 am, its lowest since December, erasing more than S$950 million in Keppel’s market capitalisation with a S$0.53 fall.
It later pared some losses to close 2.1 per cent down at S$10.38.
The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) on Monday said it had halted its assessment of the proposed consolidation between M1 and Simba Telecom until further notice.
This comes as it learnt that mobile network operator Simba could have been using radio frequency bands that it was not assigned to provide mobile services.
“We will allow the share purchase agreement with Simba to lapse when the long-stop date comes up later this week on May 21,” said Keppel chief executive Loh Chin Hua on Monday during a briefing with media outlets and analysts.
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Shares of Keppel also fell as much as 4.6 per cent in January after news of a mutually agreed extension of the long-stop date for the proposed M1 deal.
On the Australian Stock Exchange, shares of Simba parent Tuas Ltd plunged as much as 69 per cent – its steepest intraday decline to date. The counter later closed 63 per cent down at A$2.27.
Last August, Keppel announced plans to sell M1’s telco business to Simba for S$1.4 billion in an all-cash deal as part of its capital recycling programme.
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On Monday, Keppel said the proposed divestment will be removed from its announced monetisation for 2025.
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