SINGAPORE, April 8 — Singapore Telecommunications Ltd will buy a 98 per cent stake in Trustwave Holdings Inc. for US$810 million (RM2.9 billion) as Southeast Asia’s biggest phone company seeks to expand in cyber security.

The deal gives the company control of businesses in North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region, SingTel said in a statement to the Singapore Exchange today. Trustwave is expected to add to earnings from the third year, according to the filing.

SingTel is seeking new expansion as growth in its home market of Singapore slows. The company also gets dividends from stakes in emerging-market carriers including India’s Bharti Airtel Ltd and Indonesia’s PT Telekomunikasi Selular. Chicago— based Trustwave had net tangible liabilities of about US$84 million and over three million business subscribers, it said.

Trustwave will allow SingTel to “capture global opportunities in the cyber security space,” SingTel Chief Executive Officer Chua Sock Koong said in the statement. — Bloomberg