Service provider Liberty Latin America is acquiring a majority interest in one of the top Costa Rican cable operators, Cabletica.
Under the terms of the deal, unveiled Monday, Liberty Latin America is acquiring 80% of Cabletica -- part of Televisora de Costa Rica -- for CRC 143 billion (approximately USD $250 million) or about 6.3-times the operator's fiscal year adjusted EBITDA. Current Cabletica owners will retain the remaining one-fifth interest in the operator.
Liberty Latin America, which split from Liberty Global in early 2018, always planned to expand in multiple ways, according to its President and CEO.
"In a region that is currently served by a highly fragmented range of operators and with customer penetration rates roughly half of more mature markets, we see significant prospects for long-term growth both organically as well as through strategic M&A," he said in a statement on the purchase.
The acquisition of Cabletica -- which offers broadband Internet, digital and analog TV and fixed-line phone services to residential subscribers -- further expands Liberty Latin America's footprint in the region. Cabletica uses DOCSIS 3.0 to deliver services, according to its website.
In the first quarter of 2017, the average connection speed in Costa Rica was 4.1Mbit/s, with a peak speed of 28Mbit/s, according to Akamai's "First Quarter, 2017 State of the Internet Report." Mexico, by comparison, had an average of 7.5Mbit/s and peak of 45.2Mbit/s, the research showed.
Liberty Latin America operates in 20 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean under various brand names such as VTR, Flow, Liberty, Más Móvil and BTC. In addition to broadband Internet, digital video, phone and mobile services, Liberty Latin America offers enterprise-grade connectivity solutions including data center, hosting and managed services, IT solutions for SMBs and government and a sub-sea and terrestrial fiber optic cable network connecting more than 40 markets in the region.
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— Alison Diana, Editor, Broadband World News. Follow us on Twitter or @alisoncdiana.
