SINGAPORE (Sept 28): M1 Ltd. shares soared by a record as trading resumed Friday after an arm of Keppel Corp. and Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. offered to buy the stock they didn’t already own in the city-state’s smallest mobile-phone carrier.

The mobile phone operator advanced as much as 31 percent to S$2.13 in early Singapore trading, about 3 percent more than the offer price of S$2.06 per share. It was halted from trading on Monday. Together, Keppel and Singapore Press hold a 32.77 percent stake in M1.

The offer, which was announced in a statement Thursday, valued the mobile operator at S$1.9 billion ($1.4 billion) and, if accepted, could facilitate a revamp of the carrier under a simplified ownership structure as competition intensifies. With one of the deepest rates of mobile penetration in the world,
Singapore has more devices than people. Still, Australia’s TPG Telecom Ltd. is expected to launch the city-state’s fourth commercial mobile services provider next year.

A successful offer could mean “investors avoid a painful period,” UOB Kay Hian analysts Foo Zhiwei, Jonathan Koh and Chong Lee Len wrote in a report Friday.
Axiata Group Bhd., M1’s largest shareholder with a 28.69 percent stake, said on Thursday that it will continue to review all options available for its shares in M1, with the sole objective of protecting and enhancing shareholders’ value of both Axiata and M1.

“Axiata’s likely rejection of the offer does little to impede” Keppel and Singapore Press from reaching their goal of getting a 50 percent stake in M1, the UOB analysts said.

Singapore’s two other mobile operators Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. and StarHub Ltd. rose 0.3 percent and 1.1 percent respectively.