Cable & Wireless Communications and Digicel plan to bid for Orange’s Dominican Republic unit, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter. According to the same source, Orange has set a mid-November deadline for bids. Back in September, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter, that Digicel was one of five bidders interested in Orange Dominicana. The sale is expected to generate more than EUR 1 billion for C&W.
Orange put the Dominican business up for auction in July, in an attempt to cut debt and increase its financial flexibility. Orange had EUR 21.6 billion (USD 29.8 billion) in net debt on 30 June, and reports it has already received preliminary offers from four or five companies. Orange hopes to complete the sale of its Dominican Republic unit by year-end.
Dominican conglomerate Grupo Leon Jimenes has also expressed interest in the acquisition of Orange Dominicana, people familiar with the matter said. All of the preliminary offers value the company at about EUR 1 billion, the sources added.
