RCom adds StanChart, DBS for $1 bn Singapore IPO

Reliance Communications (RCom) has appointed two more banks for the upcoming $1 billion initial public offer (IPO) of its undersea cable unit in what may be the biggest stock listing in Singapore this year, two sources said.

Standard Chartered and DBS Group Holdings will join Deutsche Bank as the main advisers in an initial public offering, which will help the debt-laden telecom firm reduce a debt burden that stood at $6.9 billion as of December.

The IPO, which is likely to be in the form of a business trust, is expected to be launched in the second half of the year, two sources with direct knowledge of the deal told Reuters.
They declined to be identified because the details of the transaction are not public.

News that RCom was pushing ahead with the Singapore IPO helped push the shares up 3.6% in early trading in Mumbai. The stock is up about 50% this year after declining 52% in 2011 on concerns about its debt.

Business trusts contain assets that pay regular dividends, most of which are distributed to shareholders.

RCom, India’s No 2 mobile phone operator, which competes with 14 others in a highly competitive Indian mobile phone market, has seen profits decline for 10 straight quarters to December.

A hoped-for IPO of its telecoms tower unit failed to take off and a planned sale of the business has dragged on for nearly two years, forcing Reliance Communications to tap the debt market recently. Reuters