Here's why M1's strategic review could resurface

The major shareholders can use divestment gains to reinvest.

M1's major shareholders have ended their strategic review on the divestment of their stakes in the telco.

Axiata, Keppel T&T, and SPH said in their announcement that proposals from potential investors did not meet the minimum criteria and parameters determined by the majority of shareholders.

"We understand that the potential investors did not pull out. However, the three largest shareholders failed to reach a consensus on selecting the preferred bidder. Recent intense scrutiny on overseas deals by the authorities in China could have also made the decision more complicated than usual," UOB Kay Hian analyst Jonathan Koh said.

However, Koh reckons that the strategic review could resurrect in the future.

"Axiata could raise funds by divesting its stake in M1 for re-investment in high-growth emerging markets, such as India. Keppel T&T, as part of conglomerate Keppel Corp, could undergo restructuring. The telecommunications business is not a core business for SPH," Koh explained.

He added, "We would not rule out an industry consolidation over the longer-term as well."

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia