TM to sell remaining stake in Axiata

Telecomasia reports that Telekom Malaysia™ is planning to divest a 2.27% stake in Axiata, the international mobile group that it spun off in 2008, aiming to make at least USD275 million in proceeds from the sale. TM’s wholly-owned unit TM ESOS Management will dispose its entire holding of 191.5 million Axiata shares on-market and through private placements, the company announced. It added that the shares are being divested as part of TM’s strategy of offloading non-core assets, with proceeds earmarked for new acquisitions to augment its core operations. TM expects to complete an initial placement within two weeks; it aims to divest any unsold shares over the next twelve months. TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database says that Axiata (formerly TM International) was originally a holding company for the international interests of Malaysian fixed line and broadband incumbent TM, but the group was demerged in April 2008. At 30 September 2010 Axiata was owned by Malaysia’s state investment firm Khazanah Nasional (43.50%), the Employees Provident Fund Board (15.43%), and Amanah Reya Nominees (6.15%). No other single shareholder owns more than 5%.