Dubai - Temasek subsidiary ST Telemedia is selling its stake in Indonesian telco Indosat to a Gulf company for S$2.5 billion, a month after a Jakarta court found it guilty of breaking antitrust laws.
In a statement, Qatar Telecommunications Co said yesterday that it will buy the 41 per cent stake that ST Telemedia owned through its subsidiary Asia Mobile Holdings - itself a joint venture between the Qatari firm and ST Telemedia.
With the US$1.8 billion deal (S$2.5 billion), ST Telemedia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore investment company Temasek Holdings, will no longer have any stake in Indosat.
'ST Telemedia will no longer have any involvement in Indosat,' the statement said.
Indosat, Indonesia's second-largest telco, was one of the two companies at the centre of an antitrust case involving Singapore companies.
Last year, Indonesian antitrust body KPPU ruled that Temasek and its affiliates had breached antitrust laws with their cross-ownership of Indosat and another telco, Telkomsel.
SingTel, which is also a Temasek subsidiary, owns 35 per cent of Telkomsel.
Temasek and its affiliates appealed but, last month, the Central Jakarta District Court upheld the ruling and ordered Temasek to either give up its stakes in one of the two telcos or halve its stakes in both telcos within a year.
Temasek has always maintained that it does not control Telkomsel and Indosat. It is filing another appeal to the Supreme Court.
The sale of Indosat shares to Qatar Telecom may still face a hurdle as it is subject to a successful outcome in the appeal to Indonesia's Supreme Court, reported Bloomberg News.
'ST Telemedia is trying to force the hand of the Supreme Court to rule in its favour because it's showing that it's looking to sell its stake,' said CIMB Investment Bank analyst Kelvin Goh in Kuala Lumpur.
