Australia's Telstra to sell Hong Kong mobiles business CSL to HKT

Telstra, Australia's largest telecommunications company on Friday announced it had signed an agreement to sell its 76.4 percent stake in Hong Kong-based mobiles business CSL to HKT Limited for around 2 billion AU dollars (1.77 billion U.S. dollars).

HKT, a leading telecommunications company in Hong Kong, will also buy the remaining 23.6 percent interest held by the New World Development, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate.

Chief executive David Thodey said it was the right opportunity for Telstra to maximize its return on the success of CSL business.

"CSL has been a strongly performing business, the compound annual revenue growth rate was 9.4 percent over the last three years and we have gained market share," Thodey said in a statement.

"There are a number of dynamics in the Hong Kong mobiles market that means this is the right opportunity for Telstra to maximize our return on this successful asset."

Thodey said Asia remained an important part of Telstra's strategy and the company intended to be in the region for the long term.

Telstra is a leading telecommunications and information services company in Australia.

"We want to leverage our domestic strengths to grow our global footprint," Thodey said.

"The team is focused on refining and enhancing our strategy across Asia and identifying further opportunities to build our capability in the region."