Digicel in negotiations to acquire French mobile firm

Digicel, Denis O'Brien's Caribbean mobile phone company, is set to pay $150-$200 million (€125.75- €167.67 million) on its latest acquisition. The group's investment in the Caribbean already exceeds $1 billion.

Digicel announced yesterday that it is in exclusive negotiations to acquire a French company with customers in Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana. Industry sources said the price was $150- $200 million.

Bouygues Telecom Caribe is a subsidiary of Bouygues, a company quoted on the French stock exchange.

The purchase by Digicel is subject to the approval of Bougyues' shareholders and its workers' committee, the French regulator, ARCEP and Bercy, the French ministry for finance.

A spokeswoman for Bouygues said that its Caribbean subsidiary had 160,000 customers and had sales of €117 million in 2005. No figure on profits was available, she said.

Digicel does not already operate in these locations, although it does have licences for Martinique and Guadeloupe by way of its earlier acquisition of the Caribbean and Bermudan operations of Cingular Wireless.

The three French overseas territories have a population of more than one million people and are a destination for international tourists. The company also provides coverage on St Barths and French St Martin.

Bouygues Telecom Caribe is headquartered in Martinique and employs approximately 80 people.

It has an established prepaid and post-paid customer base, according to Digicel.

The announcement comes just days after the completion of the acquisition of the Cingular Wireless operations in the Caribbean and Bermuda. Digicel now operates in markets with a total population of 14 million.

An analyst with London-based Informa telecoms and media group, Ana Hermosos, said that the deal with Bouygues would make Digicel the first non-French operator to enter the French Caribbean.

If the deal goes ahead Digicel will enter into competition with the incumbent, Orange Caribe, and Only, a new entrant in the French West Indies market.

"Digicel has successfully taken on Cable & Wireless among other incumbents over the years and rapidly increased its subscriber base," said Digicel group chief executive Colm Delves.