I Squared, Macquarie vie for stake in Indosat's $1 bln fibre business, sources say
Plans for the sale come as global investors' interest grows in digital infrastructure across Asia, lured by prospects for growth against the backdrop of rising demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing-based services.
Indosat or IOH, Indonesia's second biggest mobile telecom company, could sell a stake of up to 75% in its fibre business asset with final bids due in April, said the sources, who both spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is private.
However, no final decision has been made and the stake size and timeline could change depending on market conditions, they added.
Other contenders include Profesional Telekomunikasi Indonesia or Protelindo, Indonesia's largest independent owner and operator of telco towers, one of the sources said.
IOH hired Citigroup (C.N), opens new tab to run the sale last year after expressions of interest from investors and companies keen to partner it to further grow the fibre optic telecoms business, Reuters reported in March 2024.
IOH and Citi declined to comment. I Squared and Macquarie said no comment.
Protelindo said it pursues a business strategy of growing both organically and inorganically, but declined to respond to market rumours.
"All disclosures to the public will be made in accordance with applicable regulations," a Protelindo director, Anita Anwar, said on Wednesday.
Larger peer Telkom Indonesia (TLKM.JK), opens new tab appointed Goldman Sachs (GS.N), opens new tab and Mandiri Sekuritas to help it find a strategic investor for its data centre business, a company official told Reuters in August.
In June, a consortium of U.S. investment firm KKR (KKR.N), opens new tab and Singapore Telecoms (STEL.SI), opens new tab said it would invest $1.3 billion in ST Telemedia Global Data Centres, one of Asia's biggest data centre providers.
IOH, headquartered in Jakarta, saw net profit rise 9% on the year to 4.91 trillion rupiah ($298.66 million) last year, its financial statement showed in February.
Revenue climbed 9.1% on the year to 55.9 trillion rupiah, driven by better performance by its cellular, and multimedia, data communication and internet businesses.
($1=S$1.3336)
($1=16,440 rupiah)
Make sense of global markets with the Trading Day newsletter. Sign up here.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
35 minutes ago
- Reuters
Indonesia eyes 'sovereign AI fund' to drive development, document shows
JAKARTA, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Authorities overseeing the development of artificial intelligence in Indonesia have proposed a "sovereign AI fund" to finance the archipelago's ambitions to become a regional hub for the fast-growing technology, a government document showed. Last month, Reuters reported that Southeast Asia's largest economy would release its first national roadmap on AI in a bid to attract foreign investment as it looks to join the global AI and chip-making race. The race has seen neighbouring Malaysia secure billions of dollars from global tech firms seeking to build critical infrastructure to meet growing demand for cloud and AI services. The Indonesia strategy, released in the form of a 179-page white paper seen by Reuters, recommends, among other things, a sovereign AI fund mainly handled by the country's new sovereign wealth fund Danantara Indonesia, which controls over $900 billion in assets. Danantara Indonesia did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The paper did not specify the amount that would be needed, but estimated a 2027 to 2029 timeline to set up the fund, and a public-private model to finance Indonesia's AI push. It also suggests increasing fiscal incentives for domestic investors in AI, without providing details. The strategy paper, which the communications and digital ministry said still awaits public feedback before the final draft, maps Indonesia's computational readiness for AI and makes recommendations for AI-related policy strategies until 2030. "Indonesia right now is in the early stages of AI adoption," the document reads. Industry players including Chinese giant Huawei and Indonesia's biggest technology company GoTo ( opens new tab contributed to the report. An April report by the Boston Consulting Group said ASEAN nations were positioned for substantial AI-driven gains, with GDP contributions ranging from 2.3% to 3.1% by 2027, and Indonesia could see the highest impact in terms of absolute gross domestic output growth. The roadmap also details challenges for Indonesia including a lack of talent, low research funding, uneven connectivity outside big cities, risks of misinformation and data leaks. Global tech companies have courted the AI drive in Indonesia, including Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab and Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab.
Reuters
35 minutes ago
- Reuters
Oil steady as markets focus on US-Russia talks
LONDON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices were steady on Monday, after falling more than 4% last week, as investors looked ahead to talks between the U.S. and Russia later this week on the war in Ukraine. Brent crude futures were up 5 cents to $66.64 a barrel at 1003 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 1 cent to $63.87. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15 in Alaska to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. The talks follow increased U.S. pressure on Russia, raising the prospect that penalties on Moscow could be tightened if a peace deal is not reached. Trump set a deadline of last Friday for Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, to agree to peace or have its oil buyers face secondary sanctions. At the same time, Washington is pressing India to reduce purchases of Russian oil. Prices fell in recent days as market participants reduced supply disruption estimates, likely because the U.S. only imposed an extra tariff on India rather than all buyers of Russian oil, said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. UBS has lowered its year-end Brent crude forecast to $62 a barrel from $68, citing higher supply from South America and resilient output from sanctioned countries. The bank added that Indian demand had fallen short of its expectations of late, and that it expected OPEC+ to pause its production hikes unless larger unexpected supply disruptions emerge. An Exxon Mobil-led consortium began crude production four months earlier than expected at a fourth floating production, storage and offloading vessel in Guyana, Exxon said on Friday. Consultancy Energy Aspects estimated Indian refiners have already purchased WTI totalling 5 million barrels for August loadings.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Pan-African lender Ecobank optimistic about second half, CEO says
NAIROBI, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Pan-African lender Ecobank ( opens new tab is "optimistic" about the prospects for its second half performance, its chief executive said, as long as there are no further U.S. tariffs or other global shocks. The Lome, Togo-headquartered lender, which operates in 35 countries around the continent, posted a 23% growth in pretax profit for the first six months of this year thanks to recoveries in some of its key markets like Ghana. "We are confident that we will see the business continuing to perform. We have got a diversified business," Jeremy Awori, the group CEO, told Reuters in an interview. Growth in the business is also being driven by payment services, remittances, trade finances and other non-lending income lines. "Our lending is picking up. We are doing that cautiously because there are still many macroeconomic uncertainties and we don't want to lurch back into NPLs (non-performing loans)," Awori, who spoke to Reuters on Friday, said. Ecobank's shares, which collapsed during the global financial crisis, are up by almost a third this year. That's more than double other regional lenders such as KCB Bank ( opens new tab and Access Bank ( opens new tab and well above the 6% rise in Standard Bank. (SBKJ.J), opens new tab. Last week though, Ecobank's biggest shareholder, South Africa's Nedbank (NEDJ.J), opens new tab, put its 21.2% stake in bank up for sale, in part due to concerns it may have had to inject more capital in order to prevent "shareholding dilution". As one of Africa's biggest lenders, Ecobank's cash distribution business has been impacted by U.S. President Donald Trump's move to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Awori said. Ecobank has also been handling funds for the World Health Organisation, a United Nations agency that has also been affected by the USAID cuts. He did not provide data but Awori said the impact was distributed across its many markets, meaning the hit on deposits was not pronounced. He is also monitoring broader international developments too, especially the scale of U.S. trade tariffs. "A decision taken by the U.S. against China or against Europe can have a knock-on effect across into our markets," Awori said. "We are very joined up." Although an opening-up Ethiopia could be an exception given its size and potential, Ecobank doesn't have any near-term geographical expansion plans. "It is never say never, but right now, for the next couple of years, we feel we have enough opportunities where we are," Awori said.
