Bidders for Singapore's M1 down to two after Vodafone opts out
2001-05-31
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The bidders for Singapore's second largest mobile phone company Mobile One (M1) have narrowed down to two after Britain's Vodafone Group opted out, industry sources said Wednesday.
The sources said the choice has now boiled down to Regional Wireless -- a joint venture between Australia's Telstra and Pacific Century Cyberworks (PCCW) of Hong Kong -- and Maxis Communications of Malaysia.
Vodafone, the world's largest mobile phone company which had earlier expressed interest in M1, said it was not bidding, contrary to earlier reports in the Singapore media.
Tenders closed on Monday.
A spokesman for M1's shareholders, which confirmed in April they were looking at disposing of their stakes, declined to comment.
Keppel Transportation and Communications and Singapore Press Holdings hold 35 percent each in M1 with the remaining 30 percent jointly owned by Cable and Wireless plc and PCCW.
Analysts said Regional Wireless could have an advantage over Maxis because of PCCW's existing interests in M1.
News reports citing industry sources said an unofficial floor price of 1.2 billion dollars had been set.
Vodafone chief executive Chris Gent said the mobile phone giant's aggressive global expansion helped profits surge 87 percent last year, but added that the buying spree was over.
"This business is thundering along at a huge rate," Gent said in London on Tuesday.
But he added: "We do not expect the acquisition activity to be anything like this year's. Our integration process is nearly complete."
Dominant carrier Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel), which had earlier expressed an interest in M1, said last week it was not pursuing a bid for the rival carrier.
SingTel's earlier interest had raised competition fears in Singapore's small market if it won control of rival M1.
M1, which began operations in 1997, accounts for 32 percent of the local mobile phone market with 881,000 subscribers. It was among three carriers which recently received licenses to operate third-generation mobile facilities in technology-savvy Singapore.
mba/rc/lb
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