Costas Paris, PR Venkat & SE Young Lee
Dow Jones Newswires
Singapore Telecommunications is considering selling a minority stake in its Australian operation Optus through an initial public offering in Australia, two people familiar with the situation said today.
The people told Dow Jones Newswires that the plan was still at an early stage.
One of the people said SingTel could raise between $US4 billion to $US5 billion ($4.4bn to ($5.5bn), and that the money could be used to gain a foothold in Vietnam, China or Africa.
“There’s not too much money to be made in Australia. It’s a mature market and competition is very intense. Right now SingTel is thinking of selling a minority stake, but this can change depending on market conditions,” the person said.
The people said that the IPO was unlikely to happen in 2010.
“The thinking is going on, but no final decision has been taken,” the second person said.
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26272084-15306,00.html