UK-based group Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) is at an ‘advanced’ stage in talks on a proposed sale of its majority stake in Macau’s incumbent fixed line telco Companhia de Telecomunicacoes de Macau (CTM), according to a report by the Financial Times. The 51% stake in the full-service operator has been valued at approximately USD650 million, and is reportedly being eyed by Hong Kong-listed international wholesale telecoms carrier CITIC Telecom International. CWC is looking to offload CTM as part of a wider strategy to focus on its Caribbean business, according to the FT report, quoting people with knowledge of the situation, although the companies involved were not immediately available for comment.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, CITIC Telecom International (formerly known as CITIC 1616) already owns a 20% equity stake in CTM, whose other minority shareholders are Portugal Telecom (28%) and Macau Post (1%). CITIC Telecom International and its parent company, CITIC Pacific, are members of CITIC Group (China International Trust and Investment Corporation), a Chinese state-backed investment vehicle.