Axiata Eyes Unit Stake Sales as Debt Swells on Overseas Push (1)

Axiata Group Bhd., Malaysia’s biggest wireless carrier by revenue, plans to sell stakes in some of its businesses and list its technology units to reduce debt taken to fund the acquisition of telecom assets overseas.

“We will start with monetization,” Chief Executive Officer Vivek Sood said in an interview at his office in Kuala Lumpur.

Vivek Sood

Photographer: Samsul Said/Bloomberg

Axiata’s balance sheet has been bogged down by debt, which ballooned to 36.7 billion ringgit ($7.9 billion) at the end of March from 25.7 billion ringgit at the end of 2019, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The debt load shot up after ...