BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS--(Marketwire - Mar 4, 2013) - Columbus International Inc. ("Columbus" or the "Company"), a diversified telecommunications provider in the Caribbean, Central America and Andean region, is pleased to announce that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Kelcom International Limited and certain of its related companies (together "Kelcom"). The announcement marks the fifth significant transaction and third acquisition entered into or completed by Columbus in the last twelve months as the Company continues to scale its operations while transforming the telecommunications landscape and infrastructure in the region.
Kelcom, a privately held company, operates under the name Karib Cable and is the leading cable system operator in St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Antigua. The company also holds a host of telecom licenses in Barbados where it is in the early stages of network deployment. Kelcom's fiber-deep HFC cable systems pass approximately 110,000 homes and serve close to 60,000 customers offering cable television, high-speed Internet and telephony services.
"The acquisition of Kelcom marks another important milestone for Columbus as we expand our service footprint to deliver our brand of services across the Caribbean region," said Brendan Paddick, chairman and chief executive officer of Columbus. "We believe that this is an exciting opportunity to build upon Kelcom's past successes to offer a truly world-class suite of services and technologies to the people and businesses of St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Antigua. We look forward to welcoming Kelcom, its customers and its approximately 250 talented professionals into the Columbus family."
Upon completion of this transaction, Columbus' retail operations will span eight countries across the region, pass more than 750,000 households and businesses and serve in excess of 500,000 retail customers, further strengthening the Company's position as the leading triple play service provider in the Caribbean.
ABOUT COLUMBUS
Columbus International Inc. is a privately held diversified telecommunications company based in Barbados. The Company provides digital cable television, broadband Internet, digital landline telephony in Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada, and Curacao under the brand name, FLOW and corporate data and cloud based services under the brand Columbus Business Solutions. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Columbus Networks, the Company provides capacity and IP services, corporate data solutions and data center hosting throughout 25 countries in the greater Caribbean, Central American and Andean region. Through its fully protected, ringed submarine fiber optic network spanning close to 18,000 km and its 24,000 km terrestrial fibre and coaxial terrestrial network, Columbus' 2,100 plus professionals provide advanced telecom services to a diverse residential and corporate client base of close to 500,000 customers. Visit www.columbus.co