CWC in £638m selloff
Telecoms group Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) is selling part of its business for £638million to expand in Central America and the Caribbean.
CWC is selling its Monaco & Islands operations, which includes businesses in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and the Maldives, to Bahrain’s state-controlled telecoms group Batelco.
CWC is disposing of the businesses, which supply fixed-line and mobile calls, broadband and TV in 11 markets, to target higher growth in Panama and Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands.
The shares rose ½p to 35p. Chief executive Tony Rice said the deal would help to lower its debt and save money through acquisitions.
Rice said: “This is bang in line with our strategy to focus on our pan-American data business rather than on the global voice business.”
It comes after CWC demerged from Cable & Wireless Worldwide, which supplies telecoms services to governments and businesses, in 2010.
Batelco is expanding abroad in the hope of offsetting falling market share at home, although its moves had been limited to Middle Eastern countries.