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Virgin Media daddy Liberty Global swoops on Cable & Wireless Communications

Rawhide!

Liberty Global – the owner of UK telco Virgin Media – has agreed to buy Caribbean-based operator Cable & Wireless Communications for £3.5bn ($5.3bn).

The cash and stock deal extends Cable Cowboy John Malone's lasso into Latin America.

CWC said that the buyout would "enhance customer benefits" and allow the business to grow as part of Liberty Global.

Malone's firm said that the acquisition created a broadband and wireless platform with 10 million subscribers.

It said that, based on closing share prices on 13 November, the takeover represented an implied price of 78.04 pence per CWC share.

Liberty Global said that shareholders would be given a one-off 3.00 pence per share special dividend once the transaction closes.

Malone's planned acquisition will be subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.

Liberty Global's chief Mike Fries described the buyout as a "watershed moment" for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The cable giant will absorb CWC's net debt of $2.7bn, as it stood on 30 September.

Shares in Liberty Global fell 2.76 per cent to $44.10 at close of play on Wall Street on Monday after the takeover was announced. ®

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