True-Hutch deal finalised

[CrazyExpat]

Telecom conglomerate True Corp on Wednesday announced the purchase of Hutchison Wireless MultiMedia Holdings in a transaction valued at 4.35 billion baht.

True, in a statement to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, said subsidiary Real Move would purchase a 92.5 per cent stake in Hutchison Wireless Multimedia for 4.35 billion baht.

Real Move will also acquire holding company BKFT (Thailand), giving True control of three other firms - Hutchison Multimedia Services (Thailand), Hutchison Telecommunications (Thailand) and Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia.

Real Move will extend loans of up to 6.3 billion baht to BFKT to help the company clear its outstanding debt.

Hutchison CAT Wireless, a joint venture with CAT Telecom, provides mobile phone services to some 600,000 subscribers in 25 provinces using CDMA technology.

True said in its SET statement that BFKT would continue to provide telecom services to CAT, particularly in the rental of third-generation HSPA (high speed packet access) services.

"Real Move would be a reseller of service and capacity of the mobile phone network that Real Move would purchase from CAT for providing mobile phone business,'' True said, adding that Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia would continue to market to CAT CDMA customers but would focus on migrating existing subscribers to 3G services within two years.

The deal will potentially give True, the country's third-largest mobile phone provider, a key advantage in the race to rollout 3G services over its larger competitors, Advanced Info Service and Dtac. Demand to upgrade high-speed networks has jumped sharply as increased consumer demand for mobile data and multimedia services has skyrocketed in recent years, putting a strain on existing network infrastructure.

A planned auction of 3G licences by the National Telecommunications Commission earlier this year was scrapped following a legal challenge on the authority of the national regulator to award the licences.

Shares of True were trading down 1.39 per cent to 7.1 baht just before noon, compared with a 0.11 per cent decline in the main SET index on the last trading day of the year.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/213784/true-hutch-deal-finalised