Denis O’Brien’s Digicel plans to raise up to $2.3bn in IPO

Digicel Group, the mobile-services company owned by Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien, plans to raise as much as $2.3 billion (€2.06bn) from an initial public offering and listing on New York Stock Exchange.

The telecommunications company, which does business in the Caribbean and South Pacific, aims to sell 142.8 million of Class A common shares at between $13 and $16 each, according to a regulatory filing.

This includes 18.6 million shares that banks underwriting the deal have an option to purchase.

Digicel plans to use the proceeds to repay as much as $1.3 billion of debt, it said.

O’Brien will be able to exercise voting rights over about 94% of the company through his Class B shares after the IPO, according to the statement.

Bermuda-based Digicel operates in 31 markets.

For the year through March, Digicel reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $1.18 billion, on revenue of $2.79 billion, according to company filings.

In June, Digicel filed to sell shares in the U.S. and said it would list them on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company would raise a net $1.7 billion from the IPO assuming an offering price of $14.50 per share, the midpoint of the price range.

Excluding the underwriting banks’ option to purchase shares, the IPO could raise as much as $2 billion, at the high end of the price range.

The company’s debt totalled $6.5 billion at the end of June.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., UBS Group AG and Citigroup Inc. are managing the IPO. Barclays Plc, Credit Suisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG and Ireland’s Davy are also working on the offering.