KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian tycoon Ananda Krishnan is set to restructure his premier satellite television operator, Astro All Asia Networks, in a RM9 billion (S$3.9 billion) transaction that will rank as the region's largest corporate exercise so far this year.

Under the proposed corporate deal, Astro's two main shareholders - the Ananda-controlled private investment company Usaha Tegas and Malaysia's state-owned Khazanah Holdings - will acquire the satellite television company's fledgling and still unprofitable international business interests.

The planned hive-off of its international business will turn the Malaysian-listed Astro into a clean entity that will house its profitable domestic operations, bankers close to the transaction told The Straits Times.

Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times.