Brief: MyRepublic may be looking to bid for Singapore telco M1

Photo credit: MyRepublic.

The news:

• Internet provider MyRepublic is looking for private equity backing to bid for Singaporean telco M1.
• M1’s major stakeholders, Axiata Group, Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation, and Singapore Press Holdings, are considering offers for their stakes in the telco, having appointed Morgan Stanley to review their stakes.
• Warburg Pincus, Shanxi Meijin Energy, and China Broadband Capital reportedly also explored the possibility of making offers for the telco.

Why it matters:

• M1 is in third place in Singapore’s current three-telco market (with a fourth one about to come in this year). Flagging performance on various fronts has ignited talks of its majority shareholders accepting offers for their stakes.
• MyRepublic could have a way back into the Singapore telco race after losing the bid to become the city-state’s fourth telco last December. The winner was Australian company TPG Telecom.
• Although a small market, Singapore enjoys one of the world’s highest usage of mobile and broadband services, with 8.4 million 3G/4G subscribers and 4.3 million broadband internet subscribers in 2016, according to BMI Research.

Source: Bloomberg.