In a notice to investors issued Tuesday, November 19, Brasil Telecom (BrT) announced that on November 15 it signed a final agreement to acquire the submarine cable system owned by GlobeNet Communications Group, formerly 360americas, linking Nova York and Miami in the U.S. to St David in the Bermudas, Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, and Maiquetia in Venezuela. According to the notice, the price is equivalent to 48 million US Dollars, with a downpayment of 28.8m USD. The remaining 19.2m USD will be paid 18 months later. BrT also said these amounts could be reduced depending on ?certain contingencies? and pointed out that the deal still depends on due diligence, ?as usual in transactions of this kind?. The subsidiary BrT Serviços de Internet (BrTi) will run the cable system, possibly setting up subsidiaries abroad to acquire the assets and equity holdings involved. Lastly, BrT said the deal doesn?t include GlobeNet?s telecoms service provider in Brazil and won?t involve the provision of services other than those offered in its concession areas as an ILEC (Region 2). This is required under Anatel?s rules because the deal involves acquisition of assets in other countries. Anatel doesn?t allow an ILEC to control other entities until it meets its regulatory targets for universal access and quality of service, which BrT hasn?t done yet. GlobeNet Communications Group is controlled by Alcatel and Toronto Dominion Bank. The submarine cable is currently used by Cable & Wireless, France Telecom, TeleBermuda International, Teleglobe, MetroRED, and Impsat, besides Brasil Telecom itself and Intelig. This latter telco, by the way, is also on BrT?s shopping list.
Infrastructure
