Millicom telecommunications company said on Thursday it will buy its business partner from Guatemala and improve its operations in the $ 2.2bn deal, the largest foreign exchange deal in Central America.
Millicom, which sells mobile phones and Broadbands in Latin America and Africa, previously had 55 percent of its operations in Guatemala. The alliance will see to it that it takes control of itself, buying a partner, from Panama Miffin Associates, led by Mario López Estrada, one of Guatemala’s richest men.
The sale will increase its net worth of $ 200m by 2021, and will focus on a country with a stable economy and money, says Mauricio Ramos, CEO of Millicom.
“We all hear a lot about politics and refugees and corruption but beneath it there is a growing economy, a very small population and a digital transfer that is like nothing you see anywhere in the world,” Ramos told the Financial Times.
A group of international banks will provide funding for the agreement, which will be repaid with loans and provide a new lease on the first quarter of 2022, the company said.
The $ 2.2bn bond is the largest foreign exchange earnings in Guatemala each year since 1970, the World Bank. data display.
Millicom, based in Luxembourg and publicly listed in New York and Stockholm, said earlier this year. selling his last Africa activity, as it changes its focus on its nine markets in Latin America. That sale is still legal.
Tigo, a Millicom brand in Guatemala, is the largest mobile operator in the country, ahead of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim’s América Móvil, who are competing in the region.
“We see them on the street every day, fighting for every buyer out there,” Ramos said of his competition. “We have our own and we will continue to do so.”
The purchase is also a vote of confidence in Guatemala’s economy as the US government tries to push for development to allow its citizens to move north.
Guatemalan total exports are expected to grow by 5 percent this year. The country has about 18m people and the largest economy in Central America, according to the World Bank. Although the economy is stable, more than 45 percent of its population live poverty.
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