PCCW-Telstra joint venture to bid for MobileOne next week
( 2001-05-25 17:39) (7)
Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd (PCCW) said Friday its joint venture with Australia's dominant telecoms firm Telstra Corp will submit a bid for Singapore's MobileOne next week.
Richard Li, executive chairman of PCCW, told reporters after PCCW's annual general meeting that the joint venture regional mobile communications carrier Regional Wireless Co Ltd (RWC) was currently undertaking a study of MobileOne and would make a final decision on the bid price by early next week.
"We are going to submit a bid next week. However if there is a price that is higher than RWC's then we will have to sell our 15 percent stake in MobileOne," he added.
MobileOne is Singapore's second largest mobile communications operator.
In early April, MobileOne's three shareholders -- Singapore Press Holdings Ltd (SPH), Keppel Telecommunications and Transportation Ltd (KTT) and Great Eastern Telecommunications (GET) -- said they were in talks which "may result in a joint disposal" of their shares.
PCCW holds half of a 30 percent stake in MobileOne through a joint venture with Cable and Wireless Plc. The PCCW stake will be sold to RWC if it wins the bid for MobileOne.
Li said he believes there are other bidders for MobileOne but did not elaborate.
He said MobileOne, which started operations in April is an attractive asset with strong operations in Singapore.
With MobileOne under its wing, RWC will own mobile operations in both Hong Kong and Singapore, which should strengthen its presence as a regional player, Li said.
Estimates of the price tag for MobileOne have ranged from two billion to three billion Singapore dollars (US$1.1 billion to US$1.6 billion).
PCCW finalized an alliance for Asian Internet infrastructure and mobile communications joint ventures with Telstra in October last year.
Under chief executive Neil Montefiore, MobileOne has built a strong brand name and subscriber base since it broke Singapore Telecommunications Ltd's (SingTel) monopoly of the local mobile market in 1997.
It now has 800,000 customers, accounting for 32 percent of the market.
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