Caribbean communications provider Cable and Wireless has been bought out by U.S. billionaire John Malone’s Liberty Global for $5.3 billion. Cable and Wireless, which holds its operating headquarters in Coral Gables, will spread Liberty Global reach into the Caribbean, where the company operates under the LIME brand.
Cable & Wireless shareholders will get a special 3 pence-a-share dividend at the deal’s close, according to a statement on Monday. The transaction is valued at 78.04 pence per CWC share, based on Friday’s closing price.
The purchase gives Malone a critical mass in Latin America, where he created a tracking stock in July called LiLAC for Liberty Global’s assets in Chile and Puerto Rico. Malone, who spent more than $50 billion the past decade amassing cable companies across Europe, looks to do the same in parts of Latin America, and may even spin off that unit in the future, people familiar with the matter said last month, when the companies announced they were in talks.
