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Telecom is being suggested as a possible buyer of the 50 per cent stake in Perth telecommunications company Amcom being sold by Australian agribusiness and car parts supplier Futuris Corporation.
The sale - expected to be completed by the end of the financial year - created an opportunity for Telecom to gain a controlling stake not only in Amcom but also in Australia's third-largest internet service provider, iiNet, the Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday.
Telecom already has an 18 per cent stake in iiNet and control of Amcom would effectively give it a further 22 per cent. Analysts believe Paul Broad, who heads Telecom's Australian operations and also sits on iiNet's board, is very interested in increasing the stake.
"They are the logical player but ... that doesn't mean it's going to happen," a BBY analyst, Mark McDonnell, said. "I would think Telecom is probably only there at a bargain basement price."
- NZPA
