(Oct 2): Axiata Group Bhd’s dream of building a carrier that spans southern Asia from Singapore to Pakistan, Indonesia and India is fading as it risks losing hold of overseas units to rivals.

Malaysia’s biggest wireless carrier received an offer from Singapore Press Holdings and Keppel Corp to buy out its stake in M1, the latest in a series of challenges to its regional presence.

The view was rosier for Axiata in 2016, when Chief Executive Officer Jamaludin Ibrahim signalled interest in raising its stake in M1. He also planned to double the number of telecommunication towers in South and Southeast Asia in three years and eventually offer the assets in a public offering. Since then, its stake in Idea Cellular was diluted by half after the Indian carrier merged with Vodafone Group Plc, and its plan to buy Veon’s tower unit in Pakistan was called off.

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