Tuas, the parent company of SIMBA, is in the process of acquiring M1 and had already signed a sale and purchase agreement with the current owners.
To complete the deal, both parties must get the approval from Singapore’s IMDA the authority that governs the telecom sector. An application was filed in September 2025 and it was given 6 months to complete. Unfortunately the review is still ongoing after it lapsed on 26 March 2026.
There were speculations among analysts and telco experts that it surrounds a few issues – the Huawei 5G Core issue, 5G bandwidth allocation to SIMBA for 5G (if the joint venture Antina is dissolved). These are some possible issues that may have taken more time to consider.
Both parties have decided to extend the deadline to allow for more time including regulatory approval to be met. If this deadline is not met, the deal could automatically lapse unless both sides agree to extend it.
Since IMDA has not completed its review yet, both parties have agreed to push back this deadline. The new long-stop date is now set for 21 May 2026, or a later date if both sides agree again.
Tuas has also said it will continue to update shareholders if there are any major developments.