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Sources suggest that a sale could raise up to $300 million, with both private equity and other industry players as potential buyers
Singtel first acquired Chicago-Trustwave back in 2015 for $770 million, with the operator hailing the cybersecurity firm as a step towards diversifying its telecoms portfolio amid the sluggish growth of its traditional revenues.
Since then, however, Trustwave’s performance has been mixed, with Singtel in recent years suggesting that the coronavirus pandemic has affected the company’s ability to scale up effectively.
In the latter half of 2021, Singtel booked an impairment charge of roughly $240 million for Trustwave, with Singtel’s new CEO Yuen Kuan Moon, suggesting a strategic review of its assets, most notably Trustwave and digital marketing company Amobee and Trustwave in May 2021.
Now, roughly a year later, and Singtel has just concluded the sale of Amobee for $239 million and sources suggest that Trustwave could be next on the chopping block.
Anonymous sources speaking to Bloomberg suggest that Singtel has been speaking with financial advisors regarding a sale of Trustwave, with the firm’s price tag reportedly set at around $300 million.
According to reports, Trustwave could draw interest from both within the industry and from investment funds.
Investors have been increasingly interested in the acquisition of cybersecurity firms in recent months, with the global economic situation seeing the majority of these companies slip in value. Just last week, US private equity firm KKR announced it had completed its acquisition of California security firm Barracuda for roughly $4 billion, with the head of KKR’s Technology team noting that cybersecurity remains “a highly attractive sector”.
These sales would not be the only streamlining that Singtel has undertaken of late. The company has also been monetising the assets of its Australian subsidiary, Optus, having sold a majority stake in the operator’s mobile tower unit to Australian pension fund AustralianSuper for $1.3 billion late last year.
In addition, at the start of 2022, rumours suggested that Singtel was also holding talks with potential suitors for a stake sale of Optus’ fibre assets, though no further details on any talks have yet to be announced.
As traditional telco revenues continue to dry up, operators are increasingly looking to new revenue streams for growth. Join us at the live Total Telecom Congress later this year to hear the operators in discussion about their rapidly evolving business models
