Singtel says it won’t sell Optus for $16 billion

Singtel says there is “no impending deal” to sell its Australian subsidiary Optus, after it was reported late yesterday that a $16 billion sale was well advanced.

The Australian Financial Review reported “advanced discussions” for the sale of Optus to Brookfield and a consortium partner, citing sources.

The report led to a spike in Singtel’s share price, from $2.41 to $2.48, before the company entered a trading halt to address the report.

Singtel said in an SGX filing [pdf] that “there is no impending deal to offload Optus for the said sum”.

“Optus remains an integral and strategic part of the Singtel Group and we are committed to Australia for the long term,” the company said.

“That said, we regularly conduct strategic reviews of our portfolio to optimise the value of our 

assets and businesses and will explore all options to maximise shareholder value.”

Singtel urged shareholders to “exercise caution in their review of any media reports relating to Optus ahead of any definitive announcements.”

The telco said its current focus is on network resiliency and appointing a new CEO, following the departure of Kelly Bayer-Rosmarin after a high-profile outage.

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AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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