KUALA LUMPUR (June 24): Axiata Group Bhd, along with two other firms, have been shortlisted to bid for Myanmar telecoms tower company Irrawaddy Green Towers (IGT).

The other two shortlisted bidders to acquire IGT are China's Guodong Group and global private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, reported The Asset, citing Myanmar newspapers.

The portal said reports estimated that IGT could be worth US$800 million (RM3.42 billion) and a preferred bidder was expected to be announced next month.

IGT is owned by Singapore-based Irrawaddy Tower Asset Holding Pte Ltd, whose investors are Dubai-based private equity firm Alcazar Capital and Beirut-based investment holding company M1 Group.

Incorporated in 2014, IGT is described by the portal as a key player in the development of Myanmar's telecoms market.

It has a network of 3,000 telecoms towers and is currently rolling out towers for the country's major operators which include Norway's Telenor, Qatar's Ooredoo and domestic mobile company MPT.

Meanwhile, Guodong Group is a Shanghainese wireless infrastructure company which operates tower assets and data centres, and manufactures parts for wireless towers.

CVC Capital Partners is global venture capital, private equity and credit strategies firm which is currently managing over US$54 billion in assets through its private equity platform.

Axiata's share price fell as much as 1.43% to RM3.43 shortly after the opening bell today.

As at 11.45am, the stock pared some of its losses to trade at RM3.46, two sen or 0.57% lower compared with yesterday's closing price of RM3.48.

Its current price values the group at RM31.73 billion.

The stock has rebounded 12% from its recent low of RM3.10 on March 19.

Still, the counter is down by 31% from RM4.99 a year ago.