$50 million Malaysian telecom acquisition on ice

The sale, which was expected to be completed by the end of October 2016, will be delayed by no later than the end of this year.

“This is a complex transaction that has taken more time to close than initially anticipated. However, we are on track to wrap it up shortly,” said Tony Hsun, managing director of VNI.

Previously, through its subsidiary OCK Vietnam Towers, OCK sought its shareholders’ approval to acquire 42.04 million shares in SEATH from VNI. The deal would be worth $50 million, paving the way for OCK to expand its operations in Vietnam, one of the biggest telecom markets in the ASEAN offering numerous growth opportunities.

Singapore-based SEATH operates as an independent tower operator focusing on the construction and leasing of towers to network operators in Vietnam. It is the largest independent BTS-owner in Vietnam, with 1,938 telecommunications towers throughout the country.

SEATH holds 100 per cent of three mobile phone base stations (BTS) in Vietnam, VNC-55 Infrastructure JSC, Mobile Information Service JSC, and Global Infrastructure Investment JSC, which altogether constitutes almost 70 per cent of VNI’s net asset value, equalling $83.9 million as of September 30, 2016.

Meanwhile, OCK ventured into four major business divisions that expound their business footprint in the industry: telecommunication network services, trading of telco and network products, green energy and power solutions, as well as M&E engineering services.

As a network facilities provider, OCK builds, owns, and rents telecommunication towers and rooftop structures to the eight telecommunication operators in Malaysia. Following the acquisition, OCK will have approximately 3,000 towers across the ASEAN region by the end of 2016.