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Singapore-based Singtel has dismissed rumours that it is looking to offload the Australian mobile operator, saying ‘there is no impending deal to divest Optus’
Singtel, Southeast Asia’s largest telecoms operator, has issued an announcement to the Singapore Stock Exchange today, explaining that “there is no impending deal to divest Optus which remains a strategic and integral part of the Singtel Group.”
The announcement came “given the movement in Singtel’s share price this morning,” when the company’s share price dropped 3.15% to S$2.46 (US$1.82).
The company’s announcement advised current and potential investors to be wary of media reports relating to the sale of Optus “in the absence of any definitive announcements”.
Last month, reports had been circulating that Singtel was planning to sell part of Optus to Canadian private equity firm Brookfield for A$16 billion (US$10.4 billion). The report, which originated from an article by the Australian Financial Review, led to an initial statement from Singtel on the Singapore Stock Exchange stating that “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,” added the statement.
Nonetheless, rumours of a stake sale persisted, built largely on the numerous challenges Optus has faced over the last few years. Last November, the company had a network outage that caused half the country’s population to have no mobile or internet services for over 12 hours. The then CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin subsequently resigned, having also being at the helm of Optus when it suffered a huge data breach in September 2022.
This cyberattack, one of the largest in Australian history, had left 10 million Australians with their personal data exposed.
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