Liz Levy, Freelance Writer
O'BRIEN
DIGICEL'S CHAIRMAN Denis O'Brien is bidding for Ireland's third largest mobile operator, Meteor, but a purchase is not expected to derail Digicel's expansion plans for the region, says former group CEO Seamus Lynch.
The deal, it would seem, is coming to a head, with apparently a gag order on director's comments, as Lynch when asked for a direct comment on the bid would only say, "we are always looking for opportunities in the telecoms industry".
When further pressed, Lynch would neither confirm nor deny the bid, though he did cite the potential to grow Meteor's business, and its current performance as "just 2 of 7 or 8 or 9 things" that make the carrier attractive to investors.
Lynch was also mum on how the deal, if successful, would be financed, saying "I prefer not to go into any of that at this stage."
But news of the bid has been carried in an Irish newspaper, with analysts believing the investor would have to divvy up anywhere in the region of 300 to 400 million euros for the carrier. This would, at best, place it on par with the investment made to date by Digicel in the Caribbean since its entry 5 years ago.
Lynch did not disclose whether Meteor would need an infrastructure upgrade an important issue for regional analysts as it could end up splitting future capital allocations to the Caribbean. A technology upgrade would add hundreds of millions of euros to the mobile carrier's price tag.
But Lynch insists that an investment in Ireland's 3rd largest mobile carrier would not change Digicel's plans for the region.
"We are 100 per cent focused on the Caribbean", said Lynch in a telephone interview yesterday. "You need to make a distinction between Digicel, and its primary shareholder, Mr. O'Brien".
It is thought that Digicel has in excess of 1.2 million subscribers in the region about a million of which are believed to be in Jamaica. This is a far cry from Meteor's 370,000 subscribers which comprise 10 per cent of the Irish mobile market.
As far as current regional investments go, Digicel expects to get the green flag to enter 3 new markets this year one of them for a country (Trinidad) that would require a hefty capital outlay. And in Jamaica, it already has $80 million worth of projects in train for new capacity sites. The firm has also stepped up plans to add new hires with its current Caribbean workforce standing at 1000.
