AWSJ:Telstra-PCCW JV Doesn't Plan Asian Telco Stake Buys
By H. ASHER BOLANDE
HONG KONG -- The Regional Wireless Company, a recently formed joint venture between Australia's Telstra Corp. (TLS) and Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd. (PCW), doesn't intend to acquire stakes in Asian operators that British Telecom PLC (BTY) and other European telcos may sell as they exit the region, the company's chairman said Thursday.
While Regional Wireless' stated mission is to become a pan-Asian mobile company through a series of acquisitions, it isn't interested in the initial stage in accumulating minority stakes, Dick Simpson, the company's chairman, told The Asian Wall Street Journal.
"We're not running around after BT picking up all their flags on the map, or after Deutsche (Telekom) or KPN," he said, referring to the former telephone monopolies of Germany and the Netherlands, respectively.
BT has embarked on a sell-off of Asian assets to help reduce a massive debt burden, discarding sizeable stakes in Japan Telecom Co. (J.JTC) and its J-Phone subsidiaries as well as Malaysian operator Maxis Communications Bhd.
But its remaining stakes of 24.1% in South Korea's LG Telecom Co. (Q.LGT), 20.2% in SmarTone Mobile Communications Ltd. of Hong Kong and 18% in Singaporean carrier StarHub Communications Ltd. are widely viewed as up for sale. BT also holds 44% of Bharti Cellular in India.
"We're not looking to run around and pick up those assets," Mr. Simpson said. The European operators that came into Asia in the early to mid-1990s "had a strategy of taking a minority and trying to accomplish something through board control," he said.
Regional Wireless, by contrast, is more interested in a direct operational role.
"To get the benefit of having Telstra as a partner, you need to let us get at the operations," said Mr. Simpson, who is also the president of Telstra International.
He declined to comment on Regional Wireless' bid to purchase 100% of MobileOne Ltd., Singapore's second-biggest wireless provider, but investment bankers and company sources familiar with the situation have said the company has submitted a bid of $1.0 billion to $1.2 billion. It is up against Maxis.
Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) holds minority stakes in Philippine mobile operator Globe Telecom Inc. (Q.GTL), Malaysia's Technology Resources Industry Bhd. (P.TRI), and PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia, or Satelindo.
Analysts say the company has been frustrated by its lack of control over the investments and has shifted its attentions back to the European telecommunications market.
It remains unclear whether it will look to sell, however.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
URL for this Article:
interactive.wsj.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Printing, distribution, and use of this material is governed by your Subscription Agreement and copyright laws.
For information about subscribing, go to wsj.com
Used with permission of wsj.com |
