Singtel shares end 2.9% higher on Bharti Airtel share sale, talks for data centre deal

Shares of Singtel surged as much as 5.1 per cent on the back of news that one of its units will sell US$1.2 billion worth of Bharti Airtel shares.

The telecommunications operator is also in reported talks with global investment firm KKR & Co to fully own ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC).

Singtel shares shot to S$4.73 as at 9.11 am on Friday (Nov 7), a rise of S$0.23 from its previous close of S$4.50. This was a new high for the stock.

The counter pared some of the gains as at the midday trading break, up 2.7 per cent at S$4.62. It then closed at S$4.63, S$0.13 or 2.9 per cent higher.

Shares of the telco previously rose to a record on Thursday after a Reutersreport on “advanced talks” about the STT GDC deal, worth more than US$3.9 billion.

Pastel on Thursday also offered to sell 51 million shares in Indian mobile carrier Bharti Airtel. The transaction will occur on local bourses on Friday, with the settlement expected on Nov 10.

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The Bharti Airtel deal was confirmed by Singtel on Friday afternoon in a bourse filing. It brought in aggregate gross proceeds of about S$1.5 billion for an estimated gain of S$1.1 billion.

Based on the volume-weighted average price of Bharti Airtel’s shares on Thursday, the latest open market value of the sale shares was about S$1.6 billion.

Singtel’s effective stake in Bharti Airtel has consequently decreased to 27.5 per cent from 28.3 per cent.

In an earlier filing, Singtel said that there was no guarantee of any “definitive or binding” agreement despite being in talks about STT GDC as part of a consortium.

The telco also cautioned investors against trading based solely on media reports before official announcements of such deals.