BTC could have a new parent company in a matter of weeks
British Company Liberty Global PLC is in the final stages of purchasing Columbus International Inc. – formerly Cable and Wireless – the parent company of BTC .
It is reported that Liberty Global purchased the company for $5.3 billion late last year.
The purchase gives the company a critical mass in Latin America and the Caribbean.
As part of the deal, Liberty Global will take on Cable & Wireless’s net debt, which was $2.7 billion as of September 30, 2015 reports said.
The deal represents a multiple of 10.7 times Cable & Wireless’s adjusted annual earnings before interest, depreciation, taxes and amortization, after taking into consideration cost synergies.
In a recent statement Mike Fries, CEO of Liberty Global, said, “The acquisition of Cable & Wireless represents a watershed moment for our recently created LiLAC platform. It will add significant scale and management depth to our fast-growing operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, while creating a new regional consumer and B2B powerhouse. Upon completion, the combined business will serve 10 million video, data, voice and mobile subscribers, with leading positions across multiple markets.”
“With our long track record of strong operational and financial performance in the region, we are confident that this combination will yield substantial synergies and accelerate our current prospects for the LiLAC Group to low double-digit rebased OCF growth over the medium term. Our high-quality networks and commitment to product innovation will provide the foundation for growth and value creation for both Liberty Global and LiLAC shareholders. Upon closing, the combined LiLAC and CWC businesses will benefit from the broader group’s scale and management expertise.”
The statement went on to say that the acquisition is beneficial to both companies as it combines high-growth assets in the Latin America and the Caribbean region to form the leading consumer and B2B communications provider; adds a powerful B2B Latin American and Caribbean platform to LiLAC; enables continued network investment and product innovation for the benefit of consumers and business customers alike; offers attractive organic growth opportunities in broadband, pay TV and mobile data; provides significant synergy opportunities and creates leading regional platform to capitalize on further M&A opportunities.
Liberty Global says it believes that the combined businesses of LiLAC and CWC will be well-positioned to exploit the fragmented telecom and pay television landscape.
The proposed acquisition of BTC in The Bahamas would have to be approved by the Cabinet of The Bahamas.
Under much fiery and emotional debate, the Ingraham administration sold 51 per cent stake in BTC to Cable and Wireless for $210 million plus taxes in 2011.
Since then, the company has spent millions of dollars to upgrade its cell service and recently launched FlowTV, which is available in Bimini and Inagua.
