KUALA LUMPUR (March 26): Australia’s Macquarie Asset Management is now the lead contender to acquire Edotco Group Sdn Bhd, the telecom tower unit of Axiata Group Bhd (KL:AXIATA), the Wall Street Journal said.
Talks to acquire Edotco are ongoing, the American financial newspaper reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter, and a deal isn’t assured. Recent Middle East developments have been considered but aren’t expected to affect any potential deal, one person was cited as saying.
If successful, the deal could value Edotco at between US$3.5 billion (RM13.94 billion) and US$4.0 billion, the Journal reported the people as saying.
An Axiata spokesperson declined to comment to the Journal on the matter, but said the company had previously informed investors of its intention to explore value creation and potential monetisation options for Edotco.
A spokesperson for Macquarie Group also declined to comment.
The Edge has reported in the Dec 1-7, 2025 weekly issue that Macquarie Group was one of the three shortlisted bidders for Edotco. The other potential buyers are a consortium led by the Employees Provident Fund and a group led by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners plc.
Axiata has a 63% stake in Edotco that operates telecom towers in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd owns 32% of Edotco while the rest is held by Retirement Fund Inc, also known as KWAP.