(Jamaica Gleaner) Telecommunications company, Digicel, has welcomed the Supreme Court’s rejection of an attempt by rival LIME to block its acquisition of Claro.
Digicel accused LIME of attempting to block a deal that it says is clearly permissible by law.
LIME challenged the Government’s approval of the merger between Digicel and Claro but Supreme Court judge Bryan Sykes yesterday threw out the application.
LIME contended that the Prime Minister should not have approved the Digicel-Claro deal because it amounted to an abuse of a dominant position and anti-competitive behaviour.
In announcing the approval, Prime Minister Bruce Golding told the parliament that Digicel would acquire the Claro network and spectrum capabilities but would be required to run two separate networks.
Under the acquisition deal, Digicel will sell its Honduras and El Salvador assets to América Móvil, which in turn will sell its Claro Jamaica business to Digicel.
The Digicel-Claro transaction was initially set to close by the end of June, but was delayed by regulatory scrutiny.
The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed however, Digicel is reportedly set to receive a net cash payment of US$350 million.
