KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 22): Following a brief trading pause, the share price of TIME dotCom Bhd (TDC) spiked as much as 6.88% to an intraday high of RM4.97, taking the top spot on Bursa Malaysia’s gainers list on Tuesday morning (Nov 22), after the group announced its intention to pay shareholders a special dividend of up to RM1 billion.
At the noon break, the counter had pared gains to RM4.90, still up 25 sen or 5.38%, with 1.47 million shares traded.
With a share price of RM4.90, the group is valued at RM9.02 billion. Year to date, the counter has risen 10.98%.
TDC’s share price rose on the back of the group’s announcement to utilise up to RM1 billion of the RM2 billion proceeds from the 49% stake disposal of its data centre business AIMS Group to pay a special dividend to its shareholders, which translates into an indicative dividend of 54 sen per share.
“The quantum of the final special dividend is subject to the board’s final deliberation after taking into account TDC’s capital management initiatives and options,” the group noted, adding that any excess funds allocated for the special dividend will be used as working capital.
TDC said the balance of the divestment’s proceeds is to be reinvested in the group to further grow shareholder value, with RM500 million for capital expenditure and RM463.98 million for working capital.
The divestment is part of TDC’s strategic partnership with DigitalBridge Group Inc to accelerate the expansion of AIMS across Asia. According to TDC, DigitalBridge is an established investor in the data centre sector, with considerable financial strength and global operating experience.
“The strategic partnership with DigitalBridge is expected to accelerate the growth of AIMS in new markets and achieve greater scale in the highly connected, ecosystem-centric data centre business segment, in line with the company’s positive outlook on the sector,” TDC said.
Touching on the rationale of the partnership, TDC said that following a strategic review of its data centre business in late-2021, the group found that there are significant opportunities in underserved markets across Asia.
“We believe that DigitalBridge is the right partner as they are committed to building on AIMS’ heritage and capitalise on its strengths. We see this as a true partnership that will allow us to tap on their global experience in other markets,” said TDC chief executive officer Afzal Abdul Rahim.
TDC said that barring any unforeseen circumstances, and subject to requisite approvals, the disposal is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2023.