PETALING JAYA: Analysts say Maxis Bhd
’s acquisition of Astro’s broadband business is likely to provide the group with an enlarged subscriber base and boost its converged solutions strategy, despite offering limited immediate earnings impact.
Maxis announced a conditional sale and purchase agreement between its wholly- owned subsidiary, Maxis Broadband Sdn Bhd, and Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd’s wholly-owned Measat Broadcast Network Systems Sdn Bhd (MBNS) to acquire MBNS’ broadband business assets for up to RM83mil in cash.
Under the agreement, MBNS’ entire broadband subscriber base, which stood at 178,631 active subscribers as of end- February, will be acquired by Maxis Broadband.
In a note, MBSB Research estimated that inorganic growth from the acquisition could potentially increase consumer home revenue by slightly over 20%, based on Maxis’ average monthly consumer home revenue of RM84mil.
However, it noted that this may only translate into 2% growth in service revenue.
“This, nonetheless, provides Maxis with an opportunity to cross-sell and up-sell its existing services via its convergence strategy,” it added.
The research house said Maxis’ home connections could potentially increase by 22% to 991,600 subscribers, and that the average revenue per user (Arpu) could be similar to Maxis’ current home blended Arpu of RM109.10 per month.
It also said the proposed acquisition cost would be minor, given the group’s existing cash reserves of RM804mil as at the second quarter ended Jun 30, 2026 (2Q26).
Notably, the purchase consideration is not fixed and subject to downward adjustment according to the number of subscribers transferred to Maxis upon completion.
MBSB Research retained its “buy” recommendation on Maxis and made no changes to its target price of RM4.31 per share.
BIMB Research said it was positive on the deal as it would give Maxis an immediate increase in fixed broadband subscribers, noting that its home fibre subscribers have stagnated at around 720,000 since end-2024.
At maximum, it estimated the acquisition could increase fibre subscribers by approximately 25% and contribute around 3% in annual service revenue once fully integrated. The research firm consequently raised its earnings forecasts by a marginal 3% from the financial year 2027 onwards after factoring in the acquisition.
It upgraded its call on the stock to a “hold” from “sell”, with a higher discounted cash flow or DCF-derived target price of RM3.40 from RM3.30 previously.
“The stock’s current valuation appears fair, with limited downside and upside catalysts in the near term, resulting in a more balanced risk-reward proposition,” it said.
Meanwhile, RHB Research maintained its “neutral” stance on Maxis and its DCF-derived RM3.80 target price.
The research house said it views the transaction positively for strengthening the company’s fibre broadband market share amid stiff competition.
