The RFP to lead a roughly $2.3 billion ADR has been sent to 16 banks, with submissions due next Friday. The only notable omissions are JPMorgan and Merrill Lynch, both of which have been conflicted because of the ongoing sale of a strategic stake in the telecoms company.
Merrill's would have been automatically unable to participate because it is acting as the sell side advisor. However, the exclusion of JPMorgan is more controversial, since the bank is only acting as a buy side advisor for Singapore Telecommunications in a continuation of the latter's aggressive acquisition trail across Australasia.
Representing a 16% stake, the prospective ADR...
