Malaysia's Axiata Group has announced plans to sell off its entire 24% stake in Thai handset distributor, mobile content provider and MVNO Samart i-Mobile for around $88 million.
The company has entered an agreement to sell the stake back to Samart Corporation, the current majority owner of Samart i-Mobile.
The transaction, which is expected to be completed within 90 days, will take Samart's stake in its subsidiary from 52% to around 76%.
Axiata group CEO Dato' Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim said the company is selling the stake as part of its strategy to focus on its core mobile communications business.
“Since our inception, Axiata has always expressed our intention to exit from non-core businesses, at the most opportune time, and concentrate on our primary business of mobile communications,” he said. “The divestment of Samart i-Mobile reflects the continuation of our strategic direction.”
Axiata once owned a stake in Samart Corporation, but sold these shares in 2010 as part of another divestment of its non-core assets.
The divestment is not expected to have a material impact on Axiata's 2014 earnings, the company said.