Liberty Global clinches deal to buy Digicel rival Cable & Wireless Communications

John Malone’s Liberty Global agreed to buy Cable & Wireless Communications in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at £3.5bn (€4.96bn), extending the US billionaire’s European cable empire deeper into Latin America.

Denis O’Brien’s Digicel telecoms firm identified Cable & Wireless as its key competitor in its Caribbean markets.

It now likely faces increased competition as Liberty, which also owns UPC-Virgin Media and TV3 here, and has a 9.9% stake in ITV in Britain, completes the purchase of Cable & Wireless.