Cable & Wireless Communications has agreed that its takeover target, state-owned Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), may continue as a monopoly.
Local newspaper The Tribune reported that C&WC had agreed a deal with the Bahamas government to…
Cable & Wireless Communications has agreed that its takeover target, state-owned Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), may continue as a monopoly.
Local newspaper The Tribune reported that C&WC had agreed a deal with the Bahamas government to maintain BTC’s exclusive right to operate mobile phones for three years (up from two years) if it acquires the 51% stake in the business currently up for sale.
In return for this exclusivity, C&WC, which operates under the name Lime in the Bahamas, would defer or cancel its plans to cut BTC’s workforce by 30%.
Speaking to TelecomFinance, C&WC refused to confirm the story, describing it as “speculation on an ongoing negotiation”. The Bahamas government and BTC failed to reply to questions before the press deadline.
Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has reportedly been reluctant to accept C&WC’s frontrunning bid due to its insistence on cutting jobs to make BTC more competitive.
The Bahamas government first stated that it wanted to privatise its telecoms industry in 2000, but it was only in 2009 that it started the process to sell the 51% stake. C&WC has been the frontrunner to buy this stake.
C&WC has operations in Panama, Macau and Monaco area, as well as the Caribbean, with its CEO Tony Rice informing investors last month of plans to expand Panamanian operations.
BTC operates fixed line, mobile and broadband services.
