Tuas M1 deal collapses after Singapore regulator probe

Tuas Ltd.'s planned S$1.43 billion ($1.1 billion) acquisition of M1 collapsed on Thursday after Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority suspended its review of the transaction, leaving the agreement to expire at its long-stop date.

Keppel moved to end the process after that decision. Chief executive Loh Chin Hua told analysts that the company would let the sale and purchase agreement with Simba lapse on May 21 rather than keep the deal open without a regulatory timetable. Reuters reported that the transaction was valued at S$1.43 billion, or about US$1.1 billion.

Keppel’s public position left little room for an extension. Loh said the company would allow the agreement to lapse “later this week, on 21 May 2026” after IMDA’s decision to suspend its review. That put the end of the deal down to process rather than price negotiations.

In a May 18 statement, IMDA said it had suspended its assessment of the proposed consolidation between M1 and Simba until its investigation was complete.

IMDA has decided to suspend its review of the proposed consolidation until the investigation has been concluded.

• IMDA, press release

The agency’s concern was no longer limited to merger review. IMDA said it was examining whether Simba used radio frequency bands that were not assigned to it, a potential breach of Singapore’s Telecommunications Act.

Why the review stopped

That distinction matters for timing. Merger reviews usually ask whether fewer operators would reduce competition or raise prices. Enforcement inquiries ask whether one party’s conduct already creates compliance risk. Once those tracks meet, the closing calendar becomes harder to predict and the buyer’s liability harder to price.

Long-stop dates matter most in that setting. The provisions set the point at which either side can walk away if approvals have not arrived. After IMDA halted the review, Tuas and Keppel were no longer negotiating over valuation or financing. They were waiting on a regulator they could not control.

Under penalties cited by The Straits Times, a confirmed breach could bring a fine of up to 10 per cent of annual turnover or S$1 million, whichever is higher. The same report said Tuas shares fell 62.8 per cent on May 18 after IMDA halted the review, a sign of how sharply the market reassessed the deal’s prospects.

That move suggested investors had treated the review as central to whether the acquisition would close. Once the regulator stopped the process, the market’s implied closing odds fell before the agreement formally lapsed.

What comes next

For Keppel, the failed sale removes a monetisation path for M1 and shifts attention to a fallback plan. Reuters said the group would pursue a 90-day “Plan B” centred on operating efficiencies at M1 instead of a near-term sale. One option offered a clean exit. The fallback depends on cost savings and execution.

Tuas, in a statement cited by The Straits Times, said it would keep the market advised as developments occur. Whether the buyer returns after the probe ends is unresolved, but the immediate result is clear: the signed deal is over.

For dealmakers in regulated sectors, the case shows how late-stage scrutiny can outweigh a headline valuation and a signed agreement. In this instance, IMDA’s shift from assessing a merger to pursuing an investigation was enough to sink a billion-dollar telecom transaction. The companies could price the asset. They could not price the regulator’s timetable.