CVC Capital Partners has dropped out of the race to acquire a majority stake in Edotco, the tower operator owned by Malaysia’s Axiata Group, two sources familiar with the matter said.

Other shortlisted bidders, including the Macquarie consortium and I Squared Capital (ISQ) remain in the process after placing binding bids last month, one of the sources and a third source familiar said.

These two sources noted that SAEngineersmy (SAE), a Malaysian privately held engineering firm, has joined the fray as a new bidder. SAE is believed to have tabled the highest bid, but rival bidders assume the offer may lack financing details, the first source said.

A decision for the winner has been delayed since the second-round bids in mid- December, the first two sources said. ISQ, meanwhile, has been in talks with local banks for financing, the two sources and a fourth source familar said.

Malaysian pension fund Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP), through its Dana Pemacu fund, is also expected to support part of ISQ’s financing, one of the sources said. The sale is expected to value Edotco at around USD 2bn, according to the first two sources.

Malaysian listed telco Axiata Group, with a market cap of USD 5.8bn, launched the sale of 63% owned subsidiary Edotco in 1H25 via a JPMorgan-advised auction process, as reported. Mergermarket previously reported that the final bid for Edotco was due by 12 December, with CVC, ISQ, and Macquarie Asset Management among the shortlisted bidders.

For the first nine months of FY25 ended September, Edotco posted an after-tax profit of MYR 314.81m (USD 78.7m) on revenue of MYR 1.78bn, according to Axiata’s financial filing.

Edotco currently operates telecom towers in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, according to its website. Some of the bidders are asking for options to exclude certain assets in high-risk markets such as Bangladesh and Pakistan, as per a local new report last month.

Other significant shareholders include sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional, which holds 31.71%, while KWAP owns the remaining 5.29% of the telecom tower operator.

CVC, Axiata and ISQ declined to comment. SAE, Macquarie, KWAP and Edotco did not respond to requests for comment.