Malaysia’s Axiata wants to offload part of its stakes in three overseas units, which could help it raise as much as $700 million, Bloomberg reported.

The company is looking to sell around 11 per cent of its total 66.4 per cent stake in Indonesian unit PT XL Axiata, which has a market value of $2.2 billion.

It also wants to divest 30 per cent of Sri Lanka’s Dialog Axiata, which would leave it with a 53.3 per cent stake, and 30 per cent of Cambodia’s Smart Axiata, in which it currently holds a 95.3 per cent stake.

Last month, Axiata reported a sharp fall in its net profit, as its two largest regional units – Celcom and XL – continued to lose subscribers and saw revenue declines.

According to Bloomberg, the operator’s debt rose 55 per cent since the end of 2014 to hit MYR21.5 billion ($5.2 billion) at the end of June this year, and it wants to use the funds from the sales to cut borrowings.

Since the middle of last year, Axiata has been exploring options such as rebalancing its portfolio and reviewing its shareholdings, it said in a statement.

In April, it completed a $1.4 billion acquisition for an 80 per cent share in Nepal’s Ncell.