Keppel shares tumble 3% after delay in planned sale of M1 to Simba

SINGAPORE – Shares of Keppel fell on March 27 following news that a key deadline for closing its sale of subsidiary M1 to rival Simba has been extended.

In a post-market filing on March 26, Keppel said that the companies mutually agreed to extend the deal’s long-stop date to May 21, or another mutually agreeable date.

A long-stop date is the deadline by which conditions precedent must be satisfied or waived for a transaction to complete. The original long-stop date for the deal was March 26.

Keppel shares opened 1.3 per cent lower at $12.11, before falling as much as 4.6 per cent to $11.70. The stock pared losses and closed down 3 per cent at $11.90.

Australia-listed Tuas, owner of Simba Telecom, offered in August 2025 to buy M1’s telco business for $1.43 billion in an all-cash deal.

The sale is subject to the approval of industry regulator Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) of Singapore. Keppel said in its March 26 filing that IMDA’s review of the deal “remains under way” and M1 and Tuas are addressing additional queries from the regulator.

In response to The Straits Times’ queries, an IMDA spokesperson said that the agency is still assessing the proposed consolidation, without offering more details.

Mr Hussaini Saifee of Maybank Securities noted that, according to Keppel’s filing, the delay is mainly due to regulatory factors.

“While it is hard to say with certainty why the regulator is taking so long, what we hear from Tuas management as well as other telcos is about the regulatory requirements and investment around network security, resiliency.

“Tuas management noted that the transaction involves critical national infrastructure, and both Keppel and Simba are working diligently through the regulatory process,” he said.

M1, Simba and other relevant parties had submitted a consolidation application to IMDA for approval of the transaction on Sept 26, 2025, Keppel said in the filing.

The deal marks the first telco consolidation in Singapore’s history. The sale was widely anticipated by industry observers, with local telcos facing intense price competition due to the rise of mobile virtual network operators offering cheap plans.

Should the deal not go through by the May 21 deadline, Mr Hussaini said it could raise further concerns that competition may not subside for longer.

While the impact on Singtel will be limited as the majority of the firm’s value comes from outside of Singapore’s consumer space, StarHub is more vulnerable, he said.

“For StarHub, it is a bit negative in our view if competition remains elevated for longer as a large chunk of the company’s revenues are exposed to Singapore consumers.”

- Additional reporting by Benjamin Lim