Implications of Singtel's purchase of telco shares from Temasek

SINGTEL'S minority shareholders may be concerned about its recent agreement to purchase telco shares from Temasek ("Singtel buys stakes in Thai, India telcos from Temasek for S$2.47b", BT, Aug 19).

According to the agreement, Singtel is expected to buy Temasek's 21 per cent interest in Thai's In-Touch Holdings and its 7.4 per cent interest in India's Bharti.

It is reported that the purchase price of S$2.47 billion is to be settled by the issue of 386 million new Singtel shares at a price of S$4.16 and the balance by taking a short-term loan and using its cash in hand.