by BLOOMBERG

U Mobile Sdn, Malaysia’s fourth-biggest phone operator, is considering the sale of its telecommunication towers for about 500 million ringgit ($120 million), according to people familiar with the matter.

The Kuala Lumpur-based company is in talks with potential buyers including Edgepoint Capital Advisors and Edotco Group Sdn, a telecom infrastructure company, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. U Mobile is still pursuing a planned initial public offering, the people said.

Discussions are at an early stage and the wireless carrier could decide against a sale, the people said. Representatives for U Mobile, Edgepoint and Edotco declined to comment.

U Mobile, which has more than 7 million subscribers, owns about 1,611 wireless towers in Malaysia. The company was planning to raise about $500 million in a local IPO, Bloomberg News reported in 2019.

Malaysian mobile-service providers are seeking to mobilize resources as they step up spending on 5G. The Southeast Asian nation is looking to roll out the high-speed network in Kuala Lumpur and its administrative capital of Putrajaya by the end of this year, before expanding nationwide by 2023.

U Mobile’s shareholders include Singapore’s Straits Mobile Investments Pte and Malaysian tycoon Vincent Tan.