March 28, 2024

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Digicel plans to liquidate Panama business after rivals’ merger approved

By Elida Moreno

PANAMA Town (Reuters) – Cell telephone operator Digicel mentioned Wednesday it designs to wind down operations in Panama following the government’s acceptance of a merger amongst competitors Cable & Wi-fi Panama (CWP) and Claro.

The merger, in which the Panamanian government will be a 49% shareholder and presents the organizations 56% of the market place, “effectively spells the close of level of competition in the telecoms marketplace for smaller sized players,” Digicel claimed in a statement.

Digicel stated it was making use of for voluntary liquidation, owning not succeeded in numerous initiatives right after CWP announced in late 2021 it would buy The usa Movil subsidiary Claro’s functions in Panama.

These initiatives integrated appointing an financial commitment lender to market the business to economic and strategic events, intensive engagement with authorities about the planned merger and proposals to migrate customers to a further operator which had been not taken forward.

With Digicel exiting the current market, there would be only one particular telecom company, Millicom-owned Tigo, running in addition to the put together CWP-Claro entity in Panama.

“It is really not sustainable for us to carry on investing in the market,” Digicel chairman Denis O’Brien said in the assertion, noting the enterprise paid out $86 million for its running license in 2008 and another $575 million on advancements due to the fact.

Digicel stated it did not count on the announcement to have a product impression on its economical situation.

(Reporting by Elida Moreno in Panama Town Crafting by Kylie Madry Editing by Edwina Gibbs)