LIME Press Release – Shareholders of Cable & Wireless Communications plc (“CWC”), the parent company of LIME, today voted overwhelmingly in favour of the merger with Columbus International Inc. (“Columbus”), operator of the consumer brand, Flow.
Following the announcement of the transaction on 6 November 2014, shareholders attended a General Meeting in London today to vote on the merger and demonstrated their support by voting almost nine in ten shareholders in favour of the deal.
The combined business of CWC and Columbus will deliver broader pro-consumer product offerings and improved services; inject state-of-the-art TV and next-generation super-high-speed broadband technology into the combined business; deliver huge cost saving and operational efficiency opportunities to the Business and Government sectors and provide rapid and seamless fixed mobile convergence through a premier network platform.
The combination of the two companies is consistent with global industry trends where convergence of fixed and mobile networks, increasing content consumption growth, and continuing development of online applications are driving requirements for higher bandwidth, fixed line networks and TV capabilities.
Commenting on today’s shareholder approval, Sir Richard Lapthorne, CWC’s Chairman said:
“I speak for the whole Board when I say that we are very pleased we have received shareholder approval for this acquisition which will significantly enhance CWC’s growth profile and accelerate the progress towards each of the strategic goals we unveiled in May. It will also create a fully converged telecommunications business which, with the support of host Governments and Regulators, will provide the Caribbean with leading edge communications capabilities that will be as good as anywhere in the world.”
Phil Bentley, CWC’s Chief Executive Officer said:
“We know we have to work closely with Governments and Regulators to ensure that our customers benefit and that competition is not compromised – and that’s a commitment we’ve happily made to all our stakeholders; a commitment we intend to uphold.
In the discussions we have already had with Governments and the Regulators, we have emphasised our belief that this transaction will be good for bringing further investment to our markets. The merger is good for our employees, the communities we serve and, most importantly, our current and future customers.”
