The Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago has cleared Cable & Wireless Communications’s acquisition of Columbus Communications.
To gain clearance for the US$1.85bn acquisition of the Barbados-based cableco, CWC agreed to divest its 49%…
The Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago has cleared Cable & Wireless Communications’s acquisition of Columbus Communications.
To gain clearance for the US$1.85bn acquisition of the Barbados-based cableco, CWC agreed to divest its 49% stake in national incumbent TSTT within 18 months.
Barbados’ Fair Trading Commission (FTC) also gave its go-ahead, provided that CWC offloads “the overlapping, duplicate elements of the combined fibre network in Barbados.”
CWC agreed last November to buy Columbus, which is present in the Caribbean, Central America and the Andean region.
At the time, CWC CEO Phil Bentley described the cash-and-stock deal as transformative for the group, saying it would provide a step-change in growth and returns.
CWC is “confident that our shareholding in TSTT will prove attractive to a number of investors”, adding that it would work with National Enterprises Limited, the state-owned majority owner of TSTT, to “agree a fair process for disposal, as embodied in our existing shareholder agreement”.
Columbus, which trades as Flow, is present in Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada and Curacao. It trades as Karib Cable in Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines and Antigua & Barbuda.
Evercore advised CWC, while JPMorgan provided debt financing in the form of a US$460m senior secured two-year bridge facility, a US$300m senior unsecured two-year bridge facility, a US$404m senior secured two-year bridge facility, a US$1.26bn senior unsecured on-year bridge facility and a US$500 senior secured revolving credit facility.
Columbus is advised by Citigroup, JPMorgan and RBC Capital.
