Luxembourg-based Millicom agreed to acquire a controlling 80% stake in Cable Onda, the largest cable and fixed telecommunications services provider in Panama, for approximately US$1.002 billion in cash. The deal values 100% of Cable Onda at an enterprise value of $1,460 million.
Cable Onda is the leader in Panama’s broadband internet, pay-TV, fixed telephony and B2B telecommunications markets, serving more than 500,000 customers using mostly its state-ofthe-art
Hybrid Fibre-Cable (HFC) network. For the half-year ended June 30, 2018, Cable Onda generated revenue of $195 million and EBITDA of $83 million, for a margin of 42.4%. Capex for
the period was $46 million.
As of December 31, 2017, Millicom provided mobile services to approximately 51 million customers, with a cable footprint of more than 9 million homes passed. In 2017, Millicom reported revenues of $6.0 billion and EBITDA of $2.2 billion. In Latin America, Millicom is present in Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Paraguay.
Mauricio Ramos, CEO of Millicom said: “Our acquisition of Cable Onda is consistent with our strategy of accelerating the deployment of high-speed data networks in Central and South America. With the addition of Panama, we now have contiguous country operations from Guatemala to Colombia, which will significantly enhance our B2B capabilities, given the country’s increasingly important role as a business hub for the region. We are excited about expanding to Panama, an investment grade country with a diversified, dollarized, and robust economy. Disposable income levels in Panama are now among the highest in Latin America, yet penetration rates for digital services remain comparatively low. We look forward to working with our strong local partners to extend the company’s market leadership and bring Digital Lifestyle services to even more Panamanians and contribute to the ongoing socio-economic development of the country.”
