Cable & Wireless Communications PLC will acquire the Columbus International Inc. (“Columbus”). Columbus has received the requisite approvals, satisfied all necessary conditions and has closed upon its transaction to be acquired by Cable & Wireless Communications PLC (“CWC”) Both companies agreed and the acquisition plan was first announced on November 2014. Acquisition of Columbus, valued at US$3.025bn, will enable the combined company to significantly accelerate growth, improve service delivery to customers in the region, offer customers a more comprehensive portfolio of high-quality products and services, and strengthen its position against larger competitors.
The increased scale and capabilities of the combined company will provide the technical platform and financial capacity to help enable the combined company to drive greater innovation and expand its geographic footprint. The combination of the two companies is consistent with global industry trends, where the convergence of fixed and mobile networks, increasing content consumption growth, and continuing development of online applications are driving requirements for high bandwidth, fixed-line networks, and TV capabilities. Operators in Europe and North America, as well as regional competitors, are acquiring and constructing networks that are capable of supporting ever-growing data needs along with new video capabilities.
Columbus believes that the combined strengths of both companies will accelerate growth, provide the necessary scale to enhance the customer experience, and help to allow Columbus to achieve its goal to become the “Best service provider” and “Employer of Choice” in the region. Similarly, the combination of the two businesses supports CWC’s new strategy and its four primary areas of focus: Drive Mobile Leadership; Accelerate Fixed-Mobile Convergence; Reinforce TV Offer, and Grow Business to Business and Business to Government sectors. This strategy is underpinned by their announcement of US$1.05 billion Project Marlin capital investment program. Additionally, CWC believes that the combination of the two businesses will generate material operating cost and capital expenditure synergies.
The combination of Columbus’ pay-TV capabilities and next-generation, state-of-the-art fiber optic networks with CWC’s region-leading mobile footprint and existing fixed-line infrastructure will significantly expand product and service offerings for customers and also advance CWC’s quad-play ambitions. The combined business will also deliver the benefits of superior quality network infrastructure, fixed-mobile products and bundles, superior TV content at competitive rates, and a more attractive portfolio of products and services in the B2B and B2G segments. For both companies, the combination transaction will enable greater focus on the Caribbean, Andean and Latin American markets.
Columbus International Inc. is a privately held diversified telecommunications company based in Barbados. The Company provides digital cable television, broadband Internet and digital landline telephony in Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Lucia and Curacao under the brand name Flow and in Antigua under the brand name Karib Cable. Columbus also provides next-generation connectivity and IT solutions, managed networking and cloud-based services under the brand Columbus Business Solutions. Through its subsidiary, Columbus Networks, the Company provides capacity and IP services, corporate data solutions, and data center services throughout 42 countries in the greater Caribbean, Central American and Andean region. Through its fully protected, ringed submarine fiber optic network spanning more than 42,300 km and its 38,000 km terrestrial fibre and coaxial network, Columbus’ 3,150 plus professionals provide advanced telecom services to a diverse residential and corporate client base of approximately 720,000 customers.
For more information visit: www.columbus.co
Cable & Wireless Communications Plc (CWC) is a full-service communications provider operating in 16 countries throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. With four leading brands: Mas Movil (Cable and Wireless Panama), LIME (the Caribbean excluding The Bahamas), BTC (The Bahamas) and Cable and Wireless Seychelles, CWC offers mobile, broadband, TV, domestic and international fixed line services and serves over 5.5million customers. CWC also provides premium data center hosting, domestic and international managed data network services and customized IT Service Solutions to businesses and governments through our Cable & Wireless Business Solutions division.
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