Reuters reports that pan-Asian telecoms firm Axiata is considering divesting its non-core assets to focus on its mobile businesses. “Divestment of our non-core assets, which are our non-mobile assets, is something we are looking at,” chief executive Jamaludin Ibrahim told Reuters in an interview yesterday. Its non-mobile assets include Multinet in Pakistan and Samart in Thailand. Reuters notes that Axiata is not actively seeking acquisitions and prefers to grow its existing businesses organically. “[Africa and the Middle East] is not high on our priority list,” said Ibrahim. “We are focusing on the South and Southeast Asian markets which offer low penetration and high growth potential… We would consider something if the value is right and attractive.”
A recent Snapshot from Wireless Intelligence reported that Axiata has almost doubled its mobile connections base since demerging from parent company Telekom Malaysia in April 2008. By the end of the second quarter, total connections across its eight Asia Pacific mobile markets surpassed 100 million, compared to 51.7 million a year ago. Its biggest mobile businesses include Indonesia’s XL, Malaysia’s Celcom and Bangladesh’s Aktel. Read more on Snapshot’s Axiata analysis here.
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