Caribbean telco group Digicel has filed for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.
In an SEC filing on Friday, Digicel said the proceeds will fund capital expenditure and select acquisitions, as the company seeks to accelerate its transformation from a mobile-focused player into an integrated services provider.
The company offers mobile services in 31 markets across the Caribbean, Central America, and the South Pacific. Its customer base stood at 13.6 million at the end of March.
Digicel has also expanded into the fixed market, launching cable TV and residential broadband services in nine markets, and is in the process of deploying fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks in Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Digicel’s SEC filings also offered a glimpse into the company’s financial performance.
In the 12 months to 31 March, Digicel generated $2.8 billion in revenue – flat on a year ago – and adjusted EBITDA of $1.2 billion. It notched up a net loss of $157.6 million, compared to a $43.5 billion profit a year earlier.
A firm date for the IPO has yet to be set, and Digicel has yet to specify how many shares it will offer or how much capital it hopes to raise; however, it did detail its transformation into a bundled se rvices player.
"Digicel is in the process of evolving from a pure mobile telecommunications company into a leading total communications and entertainment provider," Digicel said. "As part of this strategy, Digicel has completed a number of acquisitions of cable TV and broadband, and content businesses."
Indeed, in June it completed the acquisition of Bermuda Telephone Company (BTC), which provides DSL broadband connectivity to 22,000 of Bermuda’s 25,000 households.
And in September, Digicel closed the acquisition of Global Caribbean Fibre, which owns a subsea fibre network connecting more than a dozen countries to the U.S., and completed its purchase of Telstar Cable, which provides cable TV, broadband, and fixed telephony in Jamaica.
"Digicel is also implementing plans for the greenfield launch of new businesses in these sectors," Digicel continued. "Digicel intends to tailor its strategy to the potential and characteristics of each market and customer segment, and to continue to employ strict levels of financial discipline and control."
