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Singtel is in advanced discussions to sell Optus, Australia’s second-largest telecommunications group, to Toronto-headquartered private equity giant Brookfield in what would be a blockbuster deal worth some $16 billion, Street Talk can reveal.

Singtel has owned Optus since 2001, and sources said the negotiations between the two camps were well advanced. Brookfield is expected to bring in a consortium partner, with sources suggesting Canada’s CPP Investment Board as a logical candidate.

Should a deal be signed, it is expected to value Optus at between $16 billion and $18 billion. A Brookfield spokeswoman declined to comment. Singtel shares were halted after Street Talk’s report.

However, Optus’ scale in mobile and internet connections – which are modern-day critical infrastructure – would mean the regulators will put any buyout proposals under the microscope. In particular, the Foreign Investment Review Board will pay close attention to the end-source of the funding that Brookfield uses to bankroll the purchase, with any money from the Middle East expected to come under scrutiny.

There’s also the question of what Brookfield could do to turn around Optus.

A nationwide network outage last year – which followed a cyberattack that compromised the customers’ personal information – has left the company reeling and without a chief executive following the departure of Kelly Bayer Rosmarin in November.

• It was a busy day for Brookfield. Its portfolio company Healthscope has called in MA Financial to restructure the business, as private hospitals face the double whammy of rising costs and shrinking insurer payouts.
• Igneo and Octopus have also submitted non-binding indicative bids for GPG Australia. That brings the total to five known bidders.
• NBN Co is zipping around London, accompanied by five banks, testing the waters for a billion-dollar Euro bond deal.
• Syrah Resources was raising $98 million via Jarden, in a deal expected to rocket AustralianSuper from 17.8 per cent to 32 per cent.
• Happy days for Jefferies’ Sholto Maconochie, whose first buy-side gig will be at famed hedge fund Millennium, on Alex Wallis’ pod.

• Appen, subject of a $9.50 a share bid in May 2022, has been sitting on a 70¢ a share offer from Nasdaq-listed Innodata.
• Albemarle’s jilted Aussie lover Liontown Resources has secured a $550 million loan after a fight.
• CVC’s beauty chain Douglas set terms for $US991 Million IPO, Bloomberg reports.

Private hospital owners like Healthscope are facing the double whammy of rising costs and shrinking insurer payouts. Against this backdrop, 16 facilities have shuttered since 2023 while 12 private hospitals have stopped offering key services like oncology or maternity, according to the Department of Health.

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