Denis O'Brien’s Digicel to sell shares on New York Stock Exchange

By Peter O'Dwyer

Billionaire Denis O’Brien’s telecoms company Digicel Group has announced it plans to sell shares in an in initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company founded by O'Brien in 2001 announced its plans to float in an initial filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission lodged earlier today.

It is thought Digicel may use the proceeds of the share sale for capital spending, as well as future acquisitions.

It may also use some of the funding boost to pay off debt which totalled $6.5bn at the end of March, according to Bloomberg news agency.

The company last year made a net loss of €141.4m.

JPMorgan Chase, UBS Group and Citigroup will manage the share sale, according to the filing.

Digicel has indicated no decision has been made on how many shares will be sold.