In October 1993, Singtel became a public company. Shares were traded for the first time on the Stock Exchange of Singapore (now known as the Singapore Exchange or SGX) on 1 November 1993. The IPO in 1993 represented 11 per cent of Singtel shares, with the rest held by Temasek Holdings. The public offer was done via three tranches of Group A, B and C shares. Singapore Citizens were able to purchase Group A shares at a discounted price as part of the Singapore Government's effort to share the nation’s wealth and to enlarge the base of share-owning Singaporeans.
Singtel today counts more than one million Singaporeans among its retail shareholders. Original Group A shareholders were entitled under the Loyalty Share Scheme an equivalent of 10 per cent of their original holding which they continued to hold as at each of the following qualifying dates - 1st November 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1999. This means that 600 Group A Singtel shares purchased in 1993 would give the shareholder an additional 240 Singtel shares by 1 November 1999.
In 1996, Temasek Holdings offered a second tranche of Singtel shares (ST-2) to Singaporeans at a discounted price, reducing its shareholding in Singtel to about 82 per cent. Similar to Group A shares, original ST-2 shareholders were also entitled to loyalty shares representing an equivalent of 10 per cent of the original holding which they continued to hold as at each of the following qualifying dates - 1st November 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2002.
In 2001, Singtel completed its acquisition of Optus, which became a wholly-owned subsidiary. A total of 2.41 billion Singtel shares were issued as part of the consideration for the acquisition. Trading in Singtel shares on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) (in the form of securities known as CHESS Depositary Interests (CDIs)) commenced on 10 September 2001, under the ASX code "SGT".
In April 2015, Singtel sought and received approval to delist from the ASX. Singtel CDIs were removed from the official list of the ASX in 5 June 2015. The delisting reflects a decline in the number of Singtel CDIs on issue. As at 31 March 2015, Singtel CDIs represented only 0.86% of Singtel's issued capital. Further, daily trading volumes and liquidity of Singtel CDIs on the ASX were very low. With little demand to drive liquidity in its CDIs, Singtel's weighting in the S&P/ASX200 index was reduced to approximately 0.03% as at 31 March 2015, further diminishing the broader market appeal of Singtel CDIs.
In November 2016, Singtel completed the acquisition of stakes in Intouch and Bharti Telecom from Temasek Holdings for a total consideration of S$2.47 billion. The transaction was partially funded through proceeds from a share placement of 386 million new Singtel shares to Temasek, totalling S$1.605 billion at a price of S$4.16 per new share.
With investments in Optus, Australia's second largest communications company, and stakes in leading mobile operators in Asia, Singtel offers investors an opportunity to own part of a truly regional telco with operations and investments in 21 countries.
