Telekom Malaysia said Friday it will submit a bid for a 42 percent stake in PT Indonesian Satellite Corp. (Indosat) before next month's deadline.

"The bid closes in mid October and we are preparing the documents for the bid. We will be appointing an adviser for the bid," Telekom chief executive Mohamad Khir Abdul Rahman told reporters.

He said Telekom has submitted to the relevant Indonesia authorities its interest to "assess Indosat" and the merits of the acquisition to ensure it would not overstretch its debt burden.

"We won't want to acquire too many companies and at the same time suffer from the burden of debt servicing," he added.

Plan to sell stake

The Indonesian overseas telephone operator announced plans to sell the stake last month as part of an ambitious privatisation drive.

Potential investors must have minimum total assets of RM1.67 billion as well as significant experience in the telecoms industry.