Thai telecoms group Samart Corp PCL said on December 23 that it sold a 24.42 percent stake in its mobile phone distribution unit to TM International Sdn Bhd, an oversees investment unit of Telekom Malaysia.
The deal, which sent Samart shares up to 11-month high, would strengthen Samart's business as the group had an ambitious plan to tap mobile handset markets elsewhere in Asia, chief executive Thavatchai Vilailuck told Reuters.
Samart, which is 19.24-percent owned indirectly by Telekom Malaysia, said it had diluted its 73.02-percent stake in Samart I-Mobile PCL (SIM), to 48.6 percent after the 1.31 billion baht ($32 million) transaction.
Samart said in a statement it sold 105 million SIM shares at 12.50 baht each and would keep its management role in the company.
The sale came just two weeks after Malaysia's dominant fixed-line provider sold its 60-percent stake in Guinea's largest telephone firm as part of plan to focus on markets close to home.A company source said Samart was seeking a licence to build a power plant in Cambodia and considering several options, including finding a partner or doing it alone.