Telstra and the Australian government secured the required regulatory approvals from governments in the region to acquire Digicel Pacific nearly nine months after announcing a move to take over the company.
The interest and support from the Australian Government resulted from concerns (founded or unfounded) about the property being acquired from Irish billionaire owner Denis O’Brien by a Chinese state-owned enterprise.
Digicel Pacific has operations in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Nauru, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu with a total of 2.8 million subscriptions generating revenue in FY 2022 of $466M. It has 1,700 employees which Telstra plans to retain. Digicel which is incorporated in Bermuda, retains operations serving 10 million customers in 25 countries including Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Panama and El Salvador.
Telstra International will manage the company as a stand-alone business, which will be overseen by a Telstra-controlled board chaired by enterprise unit executive David Burns.
Telstra paid $270 million in equity towards the $1.6 billion purchase price. The Australian government, through Export Finance Australia, paid the $1.3 billion balance. Telstra owns 100 per cent of the ordinary equity.