London-listed Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) has agreed to pay US$100m to re-acquire the minority stake Batelco had indirectly bought in Monaco Telecom.
The transaction follows the Bahraini telco’s failure to gain regulatory approval from…
London-listed Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) has agreed to pay US$100m to re-acquire the minority stake Batelco had indirectly bought in Monaco Telecom.
The transaction follows the Bahraini telco’s failure to gain regulatory approval from the Monegasque authorities for a stake in the principality’s incumbent operator.
Batelco struck a deal to acquire CWC’s Monaco & Islands division for an enterprise value of US$680m last December.
As part of that deal, Batelco acquired 25% of CWC’s Compagnie Monagesque de Communications (CMC) vehicle – which holds 55% of Monaco Telecom. The parties also put in place a put and call arrangement so that Batelco could buy the remaining 75% of CMC for a further US$345m at a later stage. The deal was structured this way as regulatory difficulties in Monaco were anticipated.
In its half yearly report issued yesterday, CWC’s outgoing CEO Tony Rice said: “We have agreed to unwind the agreement we announced with Batelco for a minority stake in our Monaco business at the same time.
“Monaco remains a strong and growing operation within our group and we are reviewing our options for the business.”
Rice is stepping down and will be replaced by former British Gas managing director Phil Bentley on 1 January 2014. The move comes as the company relocates its offices from Central London to Miami to be closer to its operations, which are now focused in the Caribbean and Central America following asset disposals earlier this year.
Monaco Telecom is now its only holding outside what CWC dubs the “pan-America” region.
