Keppel, Tuas confirm M1-Simba deal dead in the water

[SINGAPORE] Keppel and Tuas Ltd confirmed on Friday (May 22) that the proposed divestment of M1’s telecommunications business to Simba Telecom had fallen through.

Tuas Ltd – the Australian-listed parent company of Simba – said that it had terminated the sale-and-purchase agreement to acquire shares in M1.

The deal, which was valued at S$1.4 billion, was originally announced in August 2025.

Tuas Ltd said it had terminated the acquisition as conditions for the deal were not met by the extended long-stop date of May 21.

In a separate announcement, Keppel said that the termination came as the condition relating to obtaining relevant approvals from the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) was not fulfilled by the extended long-stop date.

IMDA announced on Monday that it had halted its assessment of the proposed M1-Simba consolidation.

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The authority said this was because it had learnt that Simba could have used radio frequency bands it was not assigned to provide mobile services. If confirmed, this would constitute a breach of Singapore’s Telecommunications Act.

Tuas Ltd said that Simba “continues to cooperate with the investigation being undertaken by IMDA” in relation to alleged spectrum breaches.

Shares of Keppel on the Singapore Exchange rose 4.7 per cent or S$0.49 to close at S$10.91 on Friday. Shares of Tuas Ltd on the Australian Securities Exchange closed flat at A$2.31.