Singtel to pay S$330m to raise Intouch stake to 24.99% in deal with Temasek
Vivienne Tay
SINGTEL on Thursday (Jun 16) proposed to raise its stake in Intouch Holdings to 24.99 per cent from 21.21 per cent by acquiring an additional 3.78 per cent stake from Temasek's wholly-owned subsidiary Anderton Investments.
Singtel will pay S$330 million in cash, which represents a 5 per cent discount to the volume-weighted average price for each Intouch share on the Stock Exchange of Thailand calculated for 20 trading days before the date of the share purchase agreement.
The S$330 million consideration also represents about 2.04 per cent of Singtel and its subsidiaries’ latest audited consolidated net tangible assets as at Mar 31, 2022. Singtel plans to complete the transaction by the end of June 2022.
The Singapore telco is 1 of the 2 largest shareholders of Intouch, which is the parent company of Advanced Info Services (AIS), a regional associate of Singtel and Thailand’s largest mobile phone network. The largest shareholder is Thai-listed power producer Gulf Energy.
Singtel group chief executive Yuen Kuan Moon said in a press statement that the increased investment deepens the group’s partnership with Gulf Energy and is part of Singtel’s strategy of actively recycling capital to invest for growth and shareholder returns.
He noted that Intouch has been delivering good returns supported by consistently strong execution from AIS.
Appointed independent financial advisor Ernst & Young Corporate Finance has given its opinion to Singtel’s independent directors that the terms of the acquisition, as an interested person transaction, are on normal commercial terms and not prejudicial to the interests of Singtel and its minority shareholders.
Singtel closed 0.8 per cent or S$0.02 lower at S$2.50 on Wednesday.
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