Luxembourg-based Altice has agreed to buy mobile operator Orange Dominicana from French incumbent Orange for US$1.4bn (€1.1bn) allowing it to become a quad-play operator in the Dominican Republic.
The telecoms investor plans to fund the deal through a…
Luxembourg-based Altice has agreed to buy mobile operator Orange Dominicana from French incumbent Orange for US$1.4bn (€1.1bn) allowing it to become a quad-play operator in the Dominican Republic.
The telecoms investor plans to fund the deal through a “bond-heavy” financing package, managed by a consortium of five banks led by Goldman Sachs. The financing is expected to come to market before Christmas, TelecomFinance understands.
Altice also said it is close to taking on conglomerate Grupo Leon Jimenes as a partner in the country. The local group will likely take a stake of between 10% and 20% in Altice’s two Dominican telecom investments – Orange Dominicana and Tricom – a person with direct knowledge of the situation told TelecomFinance.
The investment firm entered the Dominican Republic at the end of October with the acquisition of triple-play operator Tricom.
Altice expects the deal to close in H1 2014 and does not anticipate any regulatory difficulties at present. The proposed transaction is being put to Orange’s board on the week beginning 9 December.
Lazard is financial adviser to Altice on the acquisition while Credit Suisse and boutique Messier Maris are financial advisers to Orange.
The French giant began a sale process of Orange Dominicana, its sole operator in the Americas, earlier this year. Orange’s focus is on EMEA.
In a statement, the company said the “transaction will represent a significant step forward in the optimisation of Orange’s assets portfolio as announced in 2011”.
According to Altice, Orange Dominicana and Tricom have a combined total subscriber base of approximately 4 million. It added that it will be allowed to keep using the Orange brand as part of the deal. Orange Dominicana generated US$581m in revenues last year and has 3.4 million subscribers, Orange claims.
Altice’s CEO Dexter Goei described the deal as “another great example of our strategy of in-market and regional consolidation”.
The telco, founded by Patrick Drahi, has become a specialist in entering markets and executing consolidation deals. Earlier this year in Portugal, it acquired enterprise-focused Oni to add to its consumer facing cableco Cabovisao. In June it bought Outremer Telecom, which operates across French territories in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean, to add its existing operations in Guadeloupe and Martinique. In October, it snapped up wireless operator Mobius to add to the Reunion operations acquired as part of the Outremer deal.
Altice also has operations in France, Israel, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland.
