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S$1.43 billion Simba-M1 acquisition deal falls through after IMDA probe
Scrapped.
Photo via Lilian Kwok & Edward Chiam on Google Maps
Australia-listed telco Tuas, the parent company of local telco Simba, has terminated its proposed S$1.43 billion acquisition of
This comes after the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) announced a probe into Simba following a potential breach.
The deal, first announced in August 2025, would have seen Tuas’s subsidiary Simba Telecom acquire M1 from Keppel.
In a statement released on May 22 on the Australian Securities Exchange, Tuas said the deal had been terminated because several conditions were not met by the deadline of May 21.It added that under the agreement, if these conditions were not fulfilled or waived by the long-stop date, the deal would automatically lapse and both parties would be released from their obligations.
The long-stop date refers to the final deadline for completing all conditions of the deal.
Tuas's stock crashed over 60 per cent after the IMDA statement, reported Reuters.
Investigation
On May 18, IMDA said it had halted its review of the proposed merger in the light of an alleged breach.
The regulator said it is investigating Simba over whether it had used radio frequency bands that were not assigned to it to provide mobile services, which could amount to a breach of both the law and its licence conditions.
Tuas said Simba is cooperating with the investigation and will update shareholders on any further developments.
Simba will continue operating in Singapore’s telecommunications market in the meantime, Tuas added.
According to Reuters, Keppel had previously planned to sell its 83.9 per cent stake in M1 to Simba, while keeping its non-telecoms business.
The transaction was valued at S$1.43 billion and was expected to generate about S$1 billion in net cash proceeds for Keppel.
