ESG

Millicom completes 100% acquisition of Tigo Panama 

30 June 2022
2 minutes
Millicom has closed the previously announced transaction to acquire the remaining 20% interest in Telecomunicaciones Digitales, S.A. (Cable Onda or Tigo Panama).
Mauricio Ramos - Millicom 2021.jpg
Mauricio Ramos - Millicom 2021.jpg

The news comes following the exercise of the founders’ liquidity option included in the shareholders’ agreement, which was entered into in 2018, as a result, Millicom now owns 100% of Tigo Panama.

Announced in 2018, the sales was announced as part of a $1 billion deal which saw Millicom acquire a 80% stake in Tigo Panama.

At the time, Mauricio Ramos, CEO of Millicom, said: ‘Our acquisition of Cable Onda is consistent with our strategy of accelerating the deployment of high-speed data networks in Central and South America.’

Following this, Millicom completed the purchase of Telefónica Móviles Panamá in a €573 million deal, back in 2019.

The deal is part of a three-part acquisition, the company closed the €379 million acquisition of Telefoníca Celular de Nicaragua in May 2019. The third acquisition, of Telefónica Costa Rica for €503 million, did not go through instead it was sold to Liberty Latin America in 2020.

In related news, November 2021 saw announce plans to acquire the remaining 45% equity interest in its joint venture businesses in Guatemala (Tigo Guatemala) for $2.2 billion in cash.

Once completed, Millicom will own a 100% equity interest in Tigo Guatemala and the deal is expected to accretive to Millicom’s cash flow and net income, increasing the company’s equity free cash flow by approximately $200 million before incremental financing costs.