Agree your sentiments @Rocket6 - SLC was an infrastructure play and ABB could have untilised those fibre assets well, hence worth more to them as a strategic buyer than others.

Picking up a lower price point cohort as part of the package would have been a happy byproduct I expect.

To my thinking, this sell down of SLC shares and the Buddy Launch signals more of a build vs buy strategy.

The announcement noted they remain on the lookout for M&A opportunities, and I'm sure they do but I expect growth to come from Buddy, SYMBIO & continued Aussie Fibre roll out.

Swapping one risk for another

It's good to see a well run business at scale using capex as a lever to generate (expected) high ROIC in markets they know well.

This saves the execution risk of integrating a different culture, set of tech, and other hidden issues.

That said, they leave SLC in tact and probably emboldened, so there could be some price pressure in that cheaper part of the market.

I expect the plan is to use Buddy to squeeze SLC and others while leaving the higher margin ABB business largely unaffected.

Disc: Held.

The intended return of surplus capital from the (substantial) profits made also sounds exciting :)