Liberty Latin America acquires controlling stake in UTS

Liberty Latin America, the Caribbean and Latin American cable and mobile operator spun off from Liberty Global, has acquired an 87.5% majority stake in United Telecommunication Services, a provider of ixed and mobile services to the island nations of Curaçao, St. Maarten, St. Martin, Bonaire, St. Barths, St. Eustatius and Saba.

Balan Nair

The all cash transaction will see Liberty acquire the controlling stake in the venture held by the government of Curuçao, and values UTS at US$189 million on a cash and debt-free basis.

The purchase price represents a 6 x multiple of adjusted EBITDA prior to UTS’ merger with the existing Cable & Wireless Communications Limited (C&W) business in Curaçao and integration into Liberty’s regional operations.

As of December 31, 2018, UTS served a total of 101,000 fixed subscribers and 134,000 mobile subscribers, the majority in Curaçao.

Balan Nair, President and CEO of Liberty Latin America, said, “We are excited to welcome UTS to Liberty Latin America. By consolidating these operations in Curaçao, 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. In addition, through this acquisition, we are expanding our footprint in the region, allowing us to further leverage our operational scale and unique sub-sea network.”