Refile: Eutelsat, KKR said to place bids for SingTel's Australia unit
17/06/2013 04:50
(Corrects typo in first paragraph) HONG KONG/SYDNEY, June 17 (Reuters) - France's Eutelsat Communications SA and private equity firm KKR & Co are among the suitors to place first-round bids for Singapore Telecommunications Ltd's STEL.SI Australian satellite unit, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. SingTel, Southeast Asia's largest telecom operator, values the satellite business of its Australia unit Optus at more than A$2 billion ($1.9 billion), and has put it on sale as it battles tepid growth in its key markets of Singapore and Australia. Britain's Inmarsat ISA.L , Blackstone Group BX.N and Carlyle Group CG.O are among the other suitors to submit bids ahead of the Friday deadline, the person told Reuters. Other bidders to express interest include, Asia Satellite Communications Holdings Ltd 1135.HK , Intelsat I.N , Sky Perfect Jsat Corp 9412.T , Australia's NewSat NWT.AX and SES SESFg.LU , the person said. Blackstone, Carlyle, KKR, Intelsat, SES and SingTel declined comment. Eutelsat ETL.PA , Inmarsat, AsiaSat, JSat and NewSat did not reply to emails seeking comments. The source declined to be identified as the sale process is confidential. (Reporting by Stephen Aldred and Jackie Range; Additional reporting by Kevin Lim and Saeed Azhar; Editing by Denny Thomas) ((stephen.aldred@thomsonreuters.com)(+852 2912 6609)(Reuters Messaging: stephen.aldred.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: SINGTEL OPTUS/