Cox & Palmer Lead Counsel For Columbus International Inc. Acquisition
Cox & Palmer, a top ranked Atlantic Canada based law firm, with a growing global practice, announced today its role as lead legal advisor to the sellers of Columbus International Inc. (“Columbus”), in a game changing acquisition by Cable & Wireless Communications PLC (“CWC”). Columbus is a leading, privately owned, fibre-based telecommunications and technology services provider operating in the Caribbean, Central America and Andean region.
The proposed acquisition is valued at US$3.025bn. As part of the consideration, Columbus sellers, including entities controlled by John Risley (director and co-founder of Columbus), an entity ultimately controlled by Liberty Global chairman John Malone (significant shareholder) and Brendan Paddick (chairman, chief executive officer and co-founder of Columbus), will acquire shares in CWC and each be entitled to appoint one member to the Board of CWC.
Wayne Myles, Q.C., counsel at Cox & Palmer says, “This is a significant international transaction and we are proud to be lead advisors to Columbus, for whom members of our team have acted since its formation more than a decade ago. It demonstrates that our depth of knowledge, international experience, dedication to client service, and competitive edge is recognized on a global scale.”
The transaction combines the strength of Columbus and CWC and will enable the combined telecommunications company to accelerate growth, improve service delivery, increase product portfolio, and strengthen its position against larger competitors.
The Cox & Palmer team, led by Myles, includes Anna Cook, Douglas Wright, Alex Templeton, Erin Best, Conor Stack, Ashley Savinov, Matthew Clarke and special advisors and US based counsel Ben Kavanagh and Stephanie Randall. Globally, the Cox & Palmer team was rounded out and assisted in various aspects of the deal by various local and international law firms, including the London England office of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer together with UK based Mills & Reeve (UK corporate and securities), New York City based Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler (bond and financing) and the Washington DC office of Bingham McCutchen (USA regulatory).
About Cox & Palmer
Cox & Palmer is a full-service, top ranked Atlantic Canadian law firm with the knowledge and experience you can rely on for solid legal solutions. We work with clients to understand their needs and provide valuable advice when it matters most.
About Columbus International Inc.
Columbus International Inc., based in Barbados, provides digital cable television, broadband Internet and digital landline telephony in Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Lucia and Curacao under the brand name Flow and in Antigua under the brand name Karib Cable. Columbus also provides next generation connectivity and IT solutions, managed networking and cloud-based services under the brand Columbus Business Solutions. Through its subsidiary, Columbus Networks, the Company provides capacity and IP services, corporate data solutions and data centre services throughout 42 countries in the greater Caribbean, Central American and Andean region. Through its fully protected, ringed submarine fibre optic network spanning more than 42,300 km and its 38,000 km terrestrial fibre and coaxial network, Columbus’ 3,150 plus professionals provide advanced telecom services to a diverse residential and corporate client base of over 700,000 customers.