Brief: M1 shareholders no longer looking for buyers

MyRepublic decided against buying M1. Photo credit: MyRepublic.

The news:

• Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) announced in an investor filing today that it will proceed no further with a strategic review it initiated in March regarding its 13.38 percent stake in telco M1. 
• Fellow majority shareholders Axiata and Keppel Telecoms – which own 28.54 percent and 19.23 percent of M1 respectively – are doing the same.
• These reviews had included the consideration of a potential sale of the three companies’ stakes in M1. In its filing today, SPH stated that “despite a favorable level of interest” proposals from interested parties did not meet the majority shareholders’ “minimum criteria and parameters” for a sale.

Why it matters:

• A number of rumored suitors for M1 had been reported over the past few months, including private equity firms Warburg Pincus and China Broadband Capital.
• MyRepublic reportedly expressed interest in acquiring the telco after missing out in an auction for a mobile network operator license. However, MyRepublic CEO Malcolm Rodrigues quashed speculation earlier this month, saying the company decided against the deal.
• M1 is facing increased competition in the Singapore market with the entry of TPG, which won the license auction. MyRepublic and Circles.Life are also entering the fray as “virtual operators” that will lease infrastructure from current license holders.

Source: The Business Times.