SingTel put Optus sats up for sale
March 20, 2013
By Chris Forrester
Owner Singapore Telecom (SingTel) is putting its Optus satellite division up for sale and hopes to attract interest from infrastructure and super funds interested in long term investments with a steady revenue stream. Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley will handle the sale worth around A$2 billion. The satellite business had revenues of A$319m for the year to March 2012.
The bottom line for SingTel is a useful capital gain of some 45 per cent from the sale, largely brought about because of the improved value of the Australian dollar. SingTel bought Optus back in 2001.
However, the sale might not be quite so easy in that Optus carries a military payload and the Australian government will want to approve the buyer.