Business
Jamaica: Digicel-Claro merger maybe overturned
The agreement that allowed Digicel to increase its stronghold in Jamaica could be undermined if the Jamaica Fair Trading Commission (FTC) determines that the transaction could lead to an anti-competitive business environment in the country.
The Jamaica FTC was cleared to make this determination on Tuesday May 15, when the Jamaica Supreme Court threw out a petition filed by Digicel that contended that the FTC did not have the jurisdiction or authority to challenge the December 2011 transaction between the Jamaica-based telecommunications company and its Latin American counterpart América Móvil, which saw Digicel divest itself of operations in Honduras and El Salvador in exchange for the now defunct Claro in Jamaica.
In late December, the Jamaica FTC weighed in to try to stop the deal, filing suit against the transaction while arguing that if government approved the transaction, prices would likely “return to the levels that pertained before Claro entered the market” in April 2007.
