Singaporean telecommunications company Singtel has rebutted a report that it is in talks to sell part of its Australian subsidiary Optus to Brookfield for A$16bn (€9.67bn).
It said: “There is no impending deal to offload Optus for the said sum, as reported, Optus remains an integral and strategic part of the Singtel Group and we are committed to Australia for the long term.”
That said, ”we regularly conduct strategic reviews of our portfolio to optimise the value of our assets and businesses and will explore all options to maximise shareholder value.”
It said that it would make an announcement if and when there were material developments warranting disclosure under its listing obligations.
Singtel has owned Optus, Australia’s second-largest telecommunications group for more than 2 decades and it is the Singapore investors’ biggest unit, generating more than half of its revenue and earnings.
The Australian Financial Review which broke the stake sale story quoted sources as saying the two parties were well in advance in their negotiations. Its sources also said that Brookfield could bring in a consortium to the deal and named CPP Investments as “a logical candidate”.
When approached, Brookfield declined to comment.
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