Cable & Wireless to Acquire the Columbus Undersea Cable Network

Cable & Wireless Communications Plc agreed to acquire Columbus International for approximately US$1.85 billion.  The deal creates a strengthen telecom player in Central America and the Caribbean.

CWC is a USD1.69bn revenue telecom services provider operating in 17 countries throughout the Caribbean, Latin America and the Seychelles. It serves 5.7m residential customers with a comprehensive suite of fixed telephony, high-speed broadband, television and mobile services.

Columbus is a privately-owned diversified telecommunications and technology services company, based in Barbados, with approximately 700,000 residential customers in the Caribbean, Central America and the Andean region. In the Caribbean, it is one of the leading providers of triple-play cable TV and broadband enabled services over its proprietary fibre optic network infrastructure.

CWC said the merger positions it for regional convergence leadership. CWC is rolling out high-speed broadband in Jamaica, Cayman, Barbados, Anguilla, Antigua, Turks & Caicos, British Virgin Islands, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent, St Lucia and Grenada. The enlarged group will benefit from Columbus’ high-speed fibre optic and hybrid fibre-coax n Curacao and Trinidad, as well as broadening network reach in markets where both CWC and Columbus operate today such as Jamaica, Barbados and Grenada.

http://www.cwc.com/
http://www.columbuscommunications.com/