Liberty Latin America is acquiring an 87.5% stake in Caribbean operating group UTS (United Telecommunication Services) as part of its push towards greater convergence.
UTS offers services across seven Caribbean markets, including Curacao, where it is headquartered. Liberty Latin America has acquired the entire stake held in the unit by the Government of Curacao, with UTS given an enterprise value of $189 million. The operator provides services to around 134,000 mobile users and 101,000 fixed users.
“We are expanding our footprint in the region, allowing us to further leverage our operational scale and unique subsea network,” said Liberty Latin America president and CEO Balan Nair. “By consolidating these operations in Curacao, we will form the largest full-service converged telecom operator on the island and create a true national champion, bringing world-class connectivity solutions to our customers on both fixed and mobile networks.”
A separate statement from Liberty Latin America read: “this enhanced national and regional scale will provide a platform for both improved and exciting services for all our customers and for further material synergies.”
Liberty Latin America is looking to boost its converged offering in Latin America, although in January this year it abandoned discussions with Millicom regarding a potential takeover, which would have created a heavyweight player in the market.
