Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) has recently announced that it is paying around $393 million to increase its stake in India’s Bharti Airtel to 31.95%, up from 30.43% currently. The company is buying the shares though its investment arm, Pastel.
In the other SingTel news, the carrier is reportedly considering the sale of a minority stake in its Australian subsidiary, Optus, in a move that could raise anywhere between $4 billion and $5 billion.
However, it is said that the plan is still at an early stage and nothing is expected to happen until late 2010 at the earliest. If this goes through, however, the carrier will use the funds to invest in emerging markets.
“There’s not too much money to be made in Australia; it’s a mature market and competition is very intense,” one source said, adding, “Right now SingTel is thinking of selling a minority stake, but this can change depending on market conditions.”
[Via: CellularNews]