Singtel, the Singaporean parent of telecommunications giant Optus, has signalled the end of an era by announcing it will quit the Australian Securities Exchange next month in a move its chief corporate officer Jeann Low has promised is not a precursor to selling the company.

Optus is Australia's second-largest telecommunications provider and its parent company will quit the ASX from May 29, 2015, citing low trading volumes on the local exchange. The move will make it much harder for locals to invest in the company.

Singtel will remain listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), which is its home market, and has pledged to keep Australians on its board without watering down the information it reveals about local operations.

"We provide the same level of information that we do for Australian consumers [and] Singapore consumers," she said. "So, we'll continue to provide that level of information and continue to also provide statutory financial information for Optus."

It was midday in Sydney on November 17, 1998, when Optus was delivered to the Australian public in a blaze of colour and revenge.

Amidst a dozen mostly female models bearing cakes and coffee on rollerblades, Optus' then-chief executive Chris Anderson rang the bell in the Australian Securities Exchange on Bond Street – the shareholder rush that followed showed just how much telco users wanted a listed rival to Telstra.

Shares barely traded

But on May 29, 2015 at 4pm that era will die once and for all as shares in Singtel cease trading on the ASX before a final deletion in June. The company on Tuesday announced it had decided to list solely on the SGX because Australians were barely trading shares in the company.

"It's a bit sad because I was the chief executive when it floated under Cable & Wireless," former Optus and Fairfax Media chief executive, Mr Anderson said. "It was a big occasion because there were a lot of Australian investors those days in the institutions because the largest shareholders were AMP, Mayne Nickless, National Mutual and the large instos [large institutional investors] – it was probably one of the most successful floats in recent times.

"But it's also a rational business decision and clearly there was no longer enough Australian liquidity."

Singtel was dual-listed in Australia and Singapore as part of the agreement that allowed it to buy Optus off Cable & Wireless and its other shareholders in 2001. Its local securities take the form of CHESS Depository Interests (CDIs) that are equivalent to one Singtel share on the SGX.

But that deal with the Commonwealth has now been amended with Foreign Investment Review Board approval. It is understood Singtel made the move after an analysis of its satellite business reviewed options for changing the company's structure. The shift will make it much harder for locals to invest in the company.

Stock conversion option

Australian shareholders will be able to either convert their stock into Singtel shares on the SGX on a one-for-one basis or sell them on the Singapore Exchange through a process organised by Singtel.

Ms Low said the move was due to the low levels of Singtel shares being traded on the ASX, and the small cost-savings associated with quitting the local exchange were not a major factor in its decision.

She added that about 19,000 Australian shareholders invested in the company, with $500 million to $600 million in market capitalisation linked to its local listing. By comparison, Singtel's total market capitalisation on the SGX is $SGD70.3 billion ($67.8 billion).

"As at March 2015, CDIs account for less than 1 per cent of Singtel's issued shares … and trading volumes of our CDIs have fallen to less than two million shares per day," she said. "The ASX has already advised us that it would be likely to agree to the removal of CDIs from the official list of the ASX subject to a number of conditions being satisfied.

"Singtel has agreed to comply with the conditions. We will promptly advise the market when we receive the formal approval."

Symbolic than commercial

Ovum research director David Kennedy said Singtel's presence on the ASX was more symbolic than commercial.

"I don't think their presence on the ASX has had any influence at all on their strategy," he said. "So, I don't think taking it off will have any effect."

Ms Low also said Singtel had no plans to sell or float Optus or any other business division "at this point in time" and that Optus chair and former chief executive, Paul O'Sullivan, would remain in his position.

"At this point in time we have no plans to list Optus," she said. "I think this is a topic for another day."