Etisalat Launches Stake Sale Of Indonesian Telco

Emirates Telecommunication Corporation, or etisalat, initiated on Wednesday a process to selldown a portion of 13.29 per cent interest in Indonesia’s third biggest mobile operator PT XL Axiata.

Reuters in a report on Wednesday put the transaction size as much as $502 million, quoting official documents.

Etisalat is selling 775 million XL Axiata shares in a range of IDR6,100-6,300 each, said the term sheet, representing six to nine per cent discount to shares’ last closing price of IDR6,700, the newswire said.

In March, this year media speculated that etisalat hoped to raise $600-700 million from its sale of stake in the Indonesian telecom.

Etisalat had invested $440 million in 2007 against 13.29 per cent acquisition to benefit from the huge and growing market of the world largest Muslim nation. Etisalat will be barred from selling more XL Axiata shares for 90 days after completing the share sale, the term sheet said. JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley are handling the share sale, the term sheet showed.

In a regulatory filing to Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, etisalat’s chief financial officer Serkan Okandan confirmed to have initiated the process to selldown its stake in PT XL Axiata Tbk ‘XL’ on the market. The telecom did not elaborate further.

Axiata, a Malaysian business group with investments in telecom sectors of Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran and other nations, had acquired the Indonesian mobile phone in 2009.

At the end of 2010, it had 40 million subscribers in Indonesia, where it offers 3G services, data communications, broadband internet and mobile communications.

The network covers the areas of Java, Bali, Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Kalimantan regions.

Khaleej Times