Reliance to divest 75% stake in FLAG submarine cable system

Reliance Communications plans to divest a 75 percent stake in its FLAG Telecom submarine cabling business, reports Business Standard. According to a prospectus filed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, the service provider hopes to raise between $1.25 and $1.5 billion in the sale.

The goal of the sale, which it expects to complete by mid-May, is set on reducing Reliance's debt.

Reliance Communications is remaining tightlipped about any transaction, with a spokesperson declining to comment.

Upon completion of the divesture, it will be business as usual for FLAG, with the existing assets and business remaining under the control of the existing management team.

Reliance acquired the five-cable, 65,000-km FLAG submarine cable system for $207 million in 2003. In 2008, the provider said it would sell FLAG, but the worldwide economic crisis drove it to abandon those plans.

 For more:
- Business Standard has this article

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