Telstra Digicel deal completed

Telstra has completed its acquisition of South Pacific telco Digicel.

Of the nearly $2 billion deal, Telstra had to kick in only $188 million, with the rest coming from the federal government’s Export Finance Australia.

For that investment, Telstra gets to take control of a business that brings in nearly $700 million annually.

In an announcement to the ASX [pdf], Telstra said the Digicel business will be operated by Telstra International under CEO Oliver Camplin-Warner as a standalone business, with its staff remaining in place.

The company will have a Telstra-appointed board, chaired by Telstra Enterprise group executive David Burns.

In a LinkedIn post, Telstra’s outgoing CEO Andy Penn wrote: “As the biggest mobile operator in the South Pacific, Digicel has more than 2.8 million customers across six nations – Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and Nauru.”

In a video posted to LinkedIn, Digital PNG CEO Colin Stone said Telstra’s ownership would let the carrier continue expanding its coverage in the South Pacific.