Singapore’s SingTel Telecom Sells Trustwave Cyber Security Stake for $205M

SingTel, or Singapore Telecommunications, said on Monday, Oct. 2, that it is selling its stake in the cyber security firm called Trustwave. The telecom firm revealed that it had reached an agreement with MC2 Titanium LLC for the stake sale worth $205 million.

SingTel is selling its stake in Trustwave far less than the amount it paid for when it acquired it in 2015 for $770 million. In any case, the decision to sell the asset comes after the company launched a strategic review of its 98% interest in the cyber security firm in 2021.

Divestment Strategy of SingTel

As per Reuters, the unloading of its stakes comes after Asia's leading communications company incurred an impairment charge or reduction in the estimated value of an asset amounting to S$336 million or about $245.92 million on Trustwave in the second half of 2021.

This latest divestment is expected to close by the last quarter of this year. The company said in a statement that this deal will not have a major impact on the group for fiscal 2024.

It was also noted that prior to this sale, SingTel also sold its stake in the Southeast Asia Data Center Unit. The firm transferred its stake to KKR, a US-based private equity fund, after signing a $807 million acquisition deal. The price is equivalent to the 20% stake it owned in the regional data center business.

SingTel to Use Sales Proceeds for Business Expansion

Forbes reported that the deal between SingTel and KKR places the enterprise value of the telecom's unit at S$5.5 billion. So far, this deal is said to be KKR's largest investment in Southeast Asia.

"The investment by KKR crystallizes the latent value of our data center assets and we hope this illuminates value for our shareholders in the coming months," SingTel's chief financial officer, Arthur Lang, said in a statement. "With more than S$6 billion being unlocked since we embarked on our strategic reset two years ago, we continue to focus on unlocking value for our shareholders."

Photo by: Singtel Website