Malaysia's top cellular phone operator Maxis Communications Bhd is expected to sell a strategic stake to Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (Singtel), a report said yesterday.
Maxis will also acquire a major stake in local telecoms firm Time dotCom, The Sun said. Maxis, owned by tycoon Ananda Krishnan, may issue new shares equivalent to a 30 percent stake to SingTel, for 1.9 billion ringgit (US$500 million) to 2.3 billion ringgit.
It is also expected to take a 30 percent stake in Time Dotcom for about two billion ringgit, it said.
Maxis, with 1.9 million users, posted a net profit of 131 million ringgit on turnover of 1.45 billion in 1999. Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd, Ananda's private company, recently raised its stake in Maxis to 95 percent following the purchase of shares from British Telecom and US-based MediaOne.
Telecoms analysts quoted by the Sun said a partnership with SingTel could give Maxis a better chance of winning its bid for Singapore mobile operator MobileOne . They said the acquisition of a strategic stake in Time dotCom would strengthen Maxis' position in the local telecommunications industry. Time dotCom has a 5,200km fibre-optic network, the biggest in the country.
The Sun said a marriage between Maxis and Time dotCom would further consolidate telecoms players in line.
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