SEARCH


JULIAN RAWLE CONSULTING
JULIAN RAWLE CONSULTING
  • Welcome
  • About
  • Services
  • Consulting
  • Collaborating Professionals
  • Contact

Commentary

Liberty Global to acquire CWC for $5.3 billion

11/17/2015

 
Liberty Global has agreed to acquire Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) for approximately $5.3 billion in a cash-and-share deal.

The deal values CWC at 86.82 pence a share, representing a premium of approximately 50% the day before Liberty Global’s interest in acquiring CWC became public. CWC’s shareholders will receive a special dividend of 3 pence per share.

Liberty Global presently has nearly 27 million subscribers and is generating around $18 billion of annual revenues, with operations mainly in Europe and growing ambitions in Latin America and the Caribbean.

According to Liberty Global, both companies will combine their high growth assets in Latin America and the Caribbean, improving their ability to provide products and services to customers.

"And by adding their strength and 1.5 million customers in Puerto Rico and Chile, backed by our strengths in adjoining markets and in leading submarine and terrestrial fibre networks, together we expect to grow our consumer and B2B offers even faster," added Liberty Global.

Phil Bentley, CEO of CWC, said that the disposal of Monaco, the creation of its regional hub in Miami and its recent acquisition of Columbus has accelerated its competitive positioning while generating significant value for shareholders.

"Liberty Global offers scale and world class capabilities and will be an outstanding custodian of our business, both for our people and our customers. The years ahead should bring new opportunities for further success, faster growth and enhanced customer benefits, built on the strong foundation we have created," said Bentley.

Source:  Capacity Magazine

JRC ANALYSIS:  In 2014, Liberty Global lost out to CWC in a competitive bid for Caribbean network operator, Columbus Networks, a deal which consolidated the assets of the two dominant telecom service providers in the Caribbean. CWC paid US$1.85 billion for the Columbus Networks assets and assumed just over US$1 billion of its debt. The fact that Liberty Global is now paying double that price for the consolidated businesses reflects the company's desire to establish a strong base in the Caribbean and Latin America for its over-the-top services.

This transaction also marks the end of the "Cable & Wireless" brand name which has been in existence for over 150 years but, more importantly, it highlights the growing trend of content providers vertically integrating into the infrastructure layers of the telecom industry, and adding to the perception that the days of the telecom carriers are numbered.

There may be some regulatory hurdles that Liberty Global will have to overcome, notably in the US where CWC's network interconnects at several points, but it should be possible to demonstrate that the combination of pan-regional infrastructure with global sourcing of content will result in better, though not necessarily cheaper, services for end users in the Caribbean and certain parts of Latin America.

Comments are closed.

    Julian Rawle, Author

    Thought leadership articles and commentary on developments related to the subsea fibre optic cable industry can be found here.

    MarineTraffic AIS Ship Data & Live Map Positions

    INDUSTRY PULSE: Retelit Trades AAE-1 Capacity for Asian Services… SEAIOCMA Extends Cable Maintenance Contract with Global Marine… Djibouti Africa Regional Express (DARE) Submarine Cable System Contract in Force... Tui-Samoa Submarine Cable System Final Splice Completed... Xtera Initiates Legal Action against Nokia and NEC for Alleged Patent Infringement... Basslink Subsea Cable Outage Caused By Exceeding Design Limit: Experts... ANTONIO MEUCCI arrived at port CATANIA... ASEAN EXPLORER departed from port SEMBAWANG... ASEAN RESTORER departed from port SEMBAWANG... BOLD MAVERICK departed from port SINGAPORE... CABLE INNOVATOR departed from port VICTORIA... CABLE RETRIEVER departed from port SUBIC BAY ... DECISIVE arrived at port LAS PALMAS... DEPENDABLE departed from port CAPE TOWN... DURABLE arrived at port JINGJIANG... CS ETISALAT departed from port HAMRIYA... FJORDKABEL arrived at port HARSTAD... FU AN arrived at port MINHANG... FU HAI departed from port KITAKYUSHU... GLOBAL SENTINEL departed from port HONOLULU, HI... ILE DAIX departed from port PALMONES... ILE DE BATZ arrived at port CALAIS... ILE DE BREHAT departed from port RIO DE JANEIRO... ILE DE RE departed from port SUVA... ILE DE SEIN departed from port NORFOLK, VA... IT INTREPID departed from port CAPE CANAVERAL, FL... KDDI OCEAN LINK departed from port YOKOHAMA... KDDI PACIFIC LINK arrived at port MOJI... KIZUNA arrived at port NAHA... LEON THEVENIN departed from port CAPE TOWN... CS LIMIN VENTURE departed from port BATU AMPAR... LODBROG departed from port KEELUNG... MAERSK RESPONDER departed from port PASIR GUDANG... MARAM departed from port FREE PORT... NIWA arrived at port SALALAH... NORDKABEL arrived at port BOKN... PACIFIC GUARDIAN arrived at port WILLEMSTAD... PETER FABER arrived at port MINDELO... PIERRE DE FERMAT arrived at port HOEK VAN HOLLAND... RAYMOND CROZE departed from port CATANIA... CS RECORDER arrived at port BLYTH... RELIANCE arrived at port NOUMEA... RENE DESCARTES departed from port LUANDA... RESOLUTE arrived at port KEELUNG... RESPONDER departed from port AUCKLAND... SEGERO departed from port SHANTOU... SOVEREIGN arrived at port PORTLAND, UK... SUBARU departed from port NAGASAKI... TELIRI departed from port CAPE TOWN... TENEO arrived at port WILLEMSTAD... UMM AL ANBER departed from port HAMRIYA... VEGA departed from port BATANGAS BAY... WAVE SENTINEL arrived at port WILLEMSTAD...
    Picture
    Julian Rawle participated in the Submarine Networks World Conference 8-10 September 2015 in Singapore

    Archives

    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Julian Rawle Consulting
38 Hickory Lane
North Reading, Massachusetts
01864    USA

Direct:  +1 617.417.6321
Fax:  +1 978.207.1035
Email:  [email protected]

Tweets by @JulianRawle
BACK TO TOP

© Julian Rawle Consulting  |  All Rights Reserved  |  Website Created by LislDesign.com

JULIAN RAWLE CONSULTING