MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Batelco completes buyout of Cable & Wireless; includes Falklands, St Helena and Ascension services

Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) has completed the disposal of the majority of its Monaco & Islands division, which was announced last December and includes the South Atlantic islands of Falklands, Ascension and St Helena.

CWC has received the required consents and approvals for the sale of its businesses in The Maldives, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, the South Atlantic and Diego Garcia to Batelco Group. Consequently the conditions for the disposal have been satisfied and completed in respect of those businesses.

Batelco has also acquired a 25% shareholding in Compagnie Monegasque de Communication SAM (“CMC”), which holds a 55% interest in Monaco Telecom.

CWC received total cash proceeds of 601 million dollars representing consideration of 570m (on a cash and debt free basis) plus 31m of the proportionate share of net cash in the disposed businesses attributable to CWC.

Regulatory approval for the transfer of CWC business in the Seychelles has not yet been obtained.

Batelco, which is listed on the Bahraini Bourse and has a history stretching back nearly 150 years, is the leading telecom operator in the Kingdom of Bahrain serving 7.8 million customers across six jurisdictions in the Middle East and North Africa.

In the financial year to December 2012, the firm grew its mobile customer base by 17% and broadband customers by 52%. In the process, it generated net profits of over 200 million from revenues of 808 million dollars.

The acquisition of CWC Monaco and Islands Division will add 11 more operations to Batelco’s global footprint and will see the company operating in European markets for the first time.

In a joint release Batelco said that strategically it is focused on diversifying and expanding its geographic reach in mobile and broadband markets whilst accelerating growth in those markets where it already has a presence.