Southeast Asian operator group Axiata is planning a Malaysian IPO for its tower assets in Indonesia, with hopes of raising at least $500 million, Bloomberg reports.

The company is working with CIMB Group Holdings, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase on the IPO which could happen in Kuala Lumpur in 2014.

Sources said that Axiata has received a bid for its PT Axis Telecom Indonesia business amid growing competition in Indonesia.

Axiata has been looking at shaking up its telecom tower assets for some time. It cancelled the sale of 7,000 towers in Indonesia in April last year after a lack of interest in the assets. Reports in November 2011 suggested three local firms had expressed an interest. Axiata also abandoned a tower sale in 2008 due to the global financial crisis.

Axiata was reported in June 2012 to have approached Indian operator Idea Cellular (in which it has a 20 per cent stake), about the acquisition of more than 8,000 towers to boost its international business and create a unified tower business across seven markets.

In February, Focus Malaysia reported that Axiata plans to spin off its tower assets in seven markets to create a single entity with a market value of between MYR8 billion and MY10 billion ($2.4 billion to $3 billion).