Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts & Co and the Carlyle Group are amongst the private equity firms vying for the Australian unit of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, Optus Satellite. According to anonymous sources familiar with the transaction, the enterprise value of the business being bidded for is well above Aus$2 billion or US$1.9 billion.
The largest telecommunications operator in Southeast Asia, SingTel, is in the process of reviving growth in several important markets, namely its home turf of Singapore and in Australia. The funds that the sale would raise would then be infused into the company's programmed growing business interests.
Other bidders, with the scheduled first round to be held on June 14, are Eutelsat Communications SA of France, the US equity firms Blackstone Group and Providence Equity partners. For its part, Eutelsat has a corporate adviser package while KKR and Carlyle are negotiating with financial institutions for the bid.
According to two of the sources, Optus Satellite has an EBITDA fo nearly Aus$225 million for 2012 and has in its roster a fleet of five satellites with a sixth to be launched within 2013.
The equity firms in the bid, namely Blackstone, KKR, Carlyle and Providence all refused to provide a comment on the matter while Eutelsat was not immediately available for comment.
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