Cable and Wireless has announced plans to buy cable network and Internet provider Columbus International for US$3.05 billion according to Yahoo Finance.
According to the report by the news service…

C&W, which has operations in Panama, the Seychelles and the Caribbean, will assume Columbus’s debt, which was $1.17 billion at June 30, and issue nearly 10 percent of its equity in new shares to fund the deal’s $707.5 million cash element.

It is unclear what local regulators will have to say about the deal and the 49% shareholding that C&W has invested in TSTT.

The official press release from Columbus on the buyout is here (Updated with photo of Phil Bentley and Brendan Paddick after signing agreement documents).

Digicel responds to the purchase of Columbus here.

The full prospectus for the acquisition is here.