SingTel to sell 30% stake in Warid Telecom at massive loss

SingTel has announced plans to sell its entire 30 per cent stake in Pakistan’s Warid Telecom for around US$150 million.

The operator has negotiated a sale with a unit of the Abu Dhabi Group, which owns the remaining 70 per cent of Warid Telecom, SingTel said in a stock exchange filing.

SingTel paid around US$758 million for its 30 per cent stake in Pakistan’s third-largest mobile operator in 2007. According to the filing, after all the financial variables are taken into account, the company will be taking an S$230 million (US$186.3 million) loss on the disposal.

SingTel said in the filing that it had made the decision to sell “following a strategic review of the investment, its competitive position and opportunity,” and that the price tag was determined “on a willing buyer, willing seller basis.”

The terms of the transaction also give SingTel the rights to a 7.5 per cent share of the proceeds from any future sale or IPO of the Pakistani operator, which could eventually reduce SingTel’s loss on the investment.

If the transaction closes – which is contingent of the approval of some of Warid’s creditors – Warid will no longer be counted as one of SingTel’s regional mobile associate companies.