Bahrain’s Batelco has failed to acquire Cable & Wireless Communications’ (CWC) Seychelles business.
Batelco group chairman Shaikh Hamad bin Abdulla Al Khalifa said in a company statement that the Seychelles government has not provided the approvals…
Bahrain’s Batelco has failed to acquire Cable & Wireless Communications’ (CWC) Seychelles business.
Batelco group chairman Shaikh Hamad bin Abdulla Al Khalifa said in a company statement that the Seychelles government has not provided the approvals needed to proceed with the US$110m deal.
“We will continue to focus on developing our current businesses including the companies acquired in April 2013,” he said.
Batelco agreed to acquire CWC’s Monaco & Islands division – which included Cable & Wireless Seychelles – last December for a total of US$680m.
Part of that deal closed in April, but not the Seychelles component as regulatory approval was still pending. The companies agreed a deadline of 2 September to complete the transaction before pushing it back to 2 December.
In a statement today, CWC said it will consider its options for the business. A person briefed on the situation said there is not a specific reason why the government did not approve the deal, adding that it was more problematic than other parts of the transaction.
Batelco also announced last month it failed to close the US$100m acquisition of CWC’s minority stake in Monaco Telecom after the Monegasque authorities blocked the transaction.
