Telkom Indonesia on Monday agreed to acquire Guam’s GTA Teleguam, a deal that will advance the former’s international connectivity ambitions.
GTA is a quad-play provider serving residential, business, and government customers on the small Pacific island. The deal will see one of Telkom Indonesia’s international arms, Telkom USA, acquire private equity firm Advantage Partners’ stake in GTA parent AP TeleGuam Holdings. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Guam &quo t;has one of the highest GDP per capita among Asian markets with well-educated workforce pool, and is a great adopter of new mobile and fixed technology," said Honesti Basyir, chief marketing officer at Telkom Indonesia, in a statement.
The island is in a "geographically strategic location," he said, because "most of the submarine cables from Asia to [the] U.S." land there.
Indeed Telkom Indonesia and GTA already work together as part of the South East Asia United States (SEA-US) cable consortium, which is building a submarine system connecting Indonesia, the Philippines and the U.S. mainland via Guam and Hawaii. It is due to be completed in 2016 at a cost of US$250 million.
"Our involvement in the SEA-US cable project gave us an opportunity to get to know GTA quite well," said Basyir. "GTA is a strong and well-respected brand. It’s the largest, fastest growing telecommunications company in its home market. It has a commitment to providing an excellent customer experience."
The deal is subject to regulatory approval in Guam and the U.S. An expected completion date was not disclosed, but once the transaction closes, GTA will become part of Telkom Indonesia’s portfolio of international operations.
