Australia’s Telstra has entered into an agreement to sell a 70 percent stake in its directories business, Sensis. Telstra will sell the stake to US based private equity firm, Platinum Equity for AUD 454 million. The sale excludes the voice services business and includes economic benefits to Telstra from services it will continue to provide to Sensis. Telstra will retain a 30 percent shareholding. The sale proceeds are incremental to Telstra’s FY14 free cashflow guidance of AUD 4.6 to 5.1 billion. Telstra expects to book an accounting loss on Sensis of approximately AUD 150 million subject to completion timing and adjustments.
Sensis will continue producing and distributing the White Pages Directory as required under conditions of Telstra’s carrier licence. Telstra will also continue to provide directory assistance (1223) services as required under conditions of Telstra’s licence. Voice services including the 1234 and 12456 services are a part of Telstra’s core telecom offering and will continue to be operated by Telstra as an ongoing supplier to Sensis.
