Cable & Wireless Communications Plc believes its expensive victory in the battle to purchase broadband and TV provider Columbus will give it the heft it needs to take on fierce rival Digicel in the Caribbean. C&W, which has sold operations from Macau to Monaco, agreed to buy Columbus last week for $1.85 billion plus $1.17 billion in debt, after fending off competition for the firm backed by pay-TV mogul John Malone, chairman of Liberty Global Plc .The cost at 12.3 times core earnings raised eyebrows among some analysts, but the group believes the strong growth trajectory means the multiple will come down quickly."We were up against people with bigger pockets than ours," Chief Executive Phil Bentley told Reuters. "We've added a lot of debt ... but we wake up today no longer the weakest in a three-player market, we're now the strongest in a two-player market."The deal makes C&W the biggest fixed-line operator in Jamaica, Barbados and the southeast Caribbean, with an industry-leading TV offer in channels and content, he said.
Shares of LBTYA traded higher by 0.06% or $0.03/share to $47.43. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $37.98 and as high as $47.49. On average, 3208660 shares of LBTYA exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1925684.
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