Global Courant
Telkom Group is currently looking for a “strategic equity partner” to invest in its BCX IT services unit as it will help it free up cash flow to scale the business.
Serame Taukobong, CEO of the Telkom group, told ITWeb that the company is continuing its “value unlock strategy,” seeking partners to support its scale or capacity requirements, or both. This will enable it to compete more effectively in the market.
The potential acquisition of Telkom has sparked industry-wide interest as the ailing telephony group becomes more attractive to potential investors due to its extensive infrastructure, data centers and customer base.
Taukobong says Telkom is exploring the potential introduction of a strategic international or local equity partner to BCX, which will help increase scale and capabilities in several growth areas, especially cloud services and cybersecurity.
Telkom reported that its revenue had risen marginally by 0.9% in its latest financial results, and mentioned that it plans an asset write-down of R13 billion, due to the planned impairment of its Openserve, Telkom Consumer, Gyro and BCX .
The announcement shot shares of the telco up 30%. The results also showed that BCX remained under pressure as its converged communications business continued to be impacted by migration to next-generation technologies and strong market competition.
Speaking to investors last week’s full-year results webcast presentation to investors, Taukobong said BCX had a challenging year but managed to maintain stable earnings. Performance was driven by growth in the IT business, which was offset by declines in the converged communications business. He explained that the markets are changing rapidly and that the difficult economic conditions, among other difficulties, had a negative effect on the group’s performance.
“With BCX, we’ve always talked about finding the right strategic partner and what we need in terms of scale and capabilities. So if we find the right strategic partner, we will certainly consider it.” – said Taukobong.
Image: Infraset
Telkom is looking for ‘strategic investor’
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