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Highlights
- Singtel, the parent company of Optus divested a 70% ownership in its Australian tower network (ATN) to AustralianSuper for AU$1.9 billion.
- Optus tower auctions would certainly provide funds to the Company for a 5G rollout.
For months now, bidders had set their sight on the proposed auction of one of Australia’s largest telecommunication Company Optus’ tower sales. Finally, today was the big day for the telco bidders and investors who were waiting curiously for this auction.
On Friday, Singtel, which is the parent company of Optus, sold 70% ownership in its Australian tower network (ATN) to AustralianSuper for AU$1.9 billion.
It is to be noted that bids for the stake in ATN, which has more than 2300 mobile network towers & rooftop sites, closed earlier this week in an auction process that started a few months back.
The telecommunication giant said that Optus will have continued access to the sites via a long-term lease agreement with ATN as per the terms of the agreement.
Furthermore, in what may be called an integral part of Optus’ 5G network, the telco will become the anchor tenant for 565 new sites, which will be built in the next three years.
Reportedly, in May this year Singtel, was offering 60%-70% of its Optus unit’s towers to would-be investors through an auction to be conducted by Bank of America.
In June this year, another rival and telco giant Telstra gave away 49% of its ownership in towers business by way of a sale to a consortium of the Australian Government Future Fund, Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation and Sunsuper for AU$2.8 billion.
Bottom Line
Optus tower auctions would certainly provide funds to the Company for a 5G rollout. The auction also provides the Company with the capital required to expand its core business which will help Optus have a competitive edge over other rivals.
Singtel is also in an advanced stage of talks with Telkom Indonesia to acquire and build data centre assets in Indonesia and the neighbouring region.
