By Kimberley Kao and Amanda Lee


Singapore Telecommunications denied plans to sell its Optus unit for A$16 billion, after a news report of a potential deal sent shares to their biggest one-day gain in more than two years.

The Singapore-based telecom company said Wednesday that there is no "impending deal to offload Optus for the said sum," referring to a report by the Australian Financial Review earlier in the day that said Singtel is in talks to sell the unit to Canada-based private-equity firm Brookfield for 16 billion Australian dollars (US$10.57 billion). AFR cited unnamed sources in the report.

"Optus remains an integral and strategic part of the Singtel Group and we are committed to Australia for the long-term," Singtel said in a filing to the Singapore stock exchange.

It said it is currently focused on improving network resilience and selecting a new chief executive for Optus, after its former head resigned in November following a large-scale service outage.

A spokesperson for Brookfield Asset Management in Australia couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Optus is Australia's second-largest mobile network.

The AFR reported that negotiations between Singtel and Brookfield were "well advanced" and that Brookfield was expected to bring in a consortium partner.

Shares of Singtel, which rose on the news of the AFR report, were halted in afternoon trade. They ended 3.8% higher, their biggest one-day percentage gain in more than two years. Trading will resume on Thursday.


Write to Kimberley Kao at kimberley.kao@wsj.com and Amanda Lee at amanda.lee@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-13-24 0548ET