The combination offer has plenty of backers: the Bank of China, Warburg Dillon Read, HSBC, the powerful family of Li Ka-shing and Hong Kong public sentiment (which is wary of the SingTel deal because 76% of that company is owned by the Singapore government's investment arm).
Underscoring the industry's potential, Singapore's government-owned investmentcompany Temasek said in June it was buying a 10% stake of publicly traded Minh Phu Seafood Corp. of Vietnam.