News
Malaysian telco issues $400 million new shares to Japan’s INCJ, sells $200 million of existing shares to sovereign wealth fund Khazanah.
Malaysian telco group Axiata on Tuesday raised $600 million (€565.6 million) by selling new and existing shares in its towers business Edotco.
Axiata agreed to sell $400 million worth of new shares to INCJ, a Japanese public-private investment company, and $200 million worth of existing shares to Khazanah Nasional, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Axiata did not disclose the size of stake in Edotco the shares represent, but said that Axiata will continue to be the majority shareholder.
"We see a perfect fit with our new shareholders, INCJ and Khazanah. The additional capital injection will provide Edotco the capacity to execute its growth strategies including expansion within Asia via key acquisitions and further in-country organic opportunities," said Suresh Sidhu, CEO of Edotco, in a statement.
Established in 2012, Edotco operates and manages 25,000 mobile towers across five countries in Asia. It also owns 12,000 km of fibre.
"For Axiata, edotco has become an important source of growth and a potential dividend yielding company for the group in the medium term," said Axiata CEO Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim, who said selling $200 million worth of shares to Khazanah will help to reduce its debt.
Axiata said it expects to complete the deals in January 2017.
