Sydney - Australian telecommunications giant Telstra on Friday announced the sale of its Hong Kong-based mobile business CSL to HKT Limited for US$2.42 billion.
Telstra expects to receive around Aus$2 billion (US$1.77 billion) for its 76 percent stake - a profit of Aus$600 million - with minority shareholder New World Development netting the rest.
Chief executive David Thodey said Telstra had enjoyed considerable success in Hong Kong, but the time was right to sell.
“CSL has been a strongly performing business, the compound annual revenue growth rate was 9.4 percent over the last three years and we have gained market share,” he said in a statement.
“However, there are a number of dynamics in the Hong Kong mobiles market that means this is the right opportunity for Telstra to maximise our return on this successful asset.”
Thodey said Telstra would continue to look for opportunities in Asia.
“We want to leverage our domestic strengths to grow our global footprint,” he said.
“The team is focused on refining and enhancing our strategy across Asia and identifying further opportunities to build our capability in the region.” - Sapa-AFP