Denis O’Brien’s Digicel plans IPO in New York

Businessman Denis O’Brien’s Digicel mobile phone business is poised to launch on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company has filed documents with US regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stating that it is planning an initial public offering of its shares on the New York market.

A statement says that the number of shares and the price range for the proposed offering have yet to be determined.

While the form filed with the SEC states that the company plans to raise $200 million, this is simply a holding figure and the actual amount generated is likely to be far higher.

It adds that it will use the cash raised for “general corporate purposes” including repaying existing debts, capital spending and acquisitions.

Digicel operates mobile networks in 31 markets in the Caribbean and south Pacific. It had 13.6 million subscribers at the end of March.

Digicel began operations in 2001 with a licence in Jamaica. It now has 13.6 million subscribers in 31 countries in the Caribbean, Central America and South Pacific.

In the year to the end of March 2015, the company’s revenues were flat at $2.8 billion. However, it slipped into the red, partly due to spending an additional $95 million servicing its $6.5 billion total debt.

The company made a loss of $157.6 million in the 12-month period compared with a profit of $43.5 million in the previous year.

Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) declined by 3.2 per cent to $1.18 billion. Ebitda is a key measure used by investors to value a business.