Junior telco One.Tel has a trading halt in place on the Australian Stock Exchange, pending an important announcement.
"The reason for the trading halt is that the company is preparing to make an important announcement which is likely to affect the company's share price but cannot be released immediately," One.Tel said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange.
Traders said there was a sense in the market the news would be positive, possibly a third major investor joining Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and Kerry Packer's Publishing & Broadcasting.
Shares in the troubled telco have plummetted in recent weeks, closing Friday's session at just 16 cents, as minority shareholders bailed out of the stock despite One.Tel's heavyweight stakeholders wading in to rescue the ailing telco.
Publishing and Broadcasting and News Corp have moved to tighten their control of One.Tel, with each group taking board seats after One.Tel founders Jodee Rich and Brad Keeling agreed to step down.
The media giants also said they would underwrite a much needed AU$132 million rights issue at a deep discount to One.Tel's share price after the telco informed its major shareholders this week its cash position was worse than forecast.
