Denis O’Brien is set to relinquish controlling control of Digicel Group as part of a restructuring agreement with creditors that will reduce the company’s debt by US$1.8 billion.
O’Brien, the company’s founder and chairman, will allegedly keep a minority ownership in Digicel and continue to serve as a director under the recapitalisation plan.
Digicel, whose headquarters are located on the Kingston waterfront, confirmed in a statement that the company’s founder will continue to be a stakeholder, but did not specify what percentage of the company he would continue to possess.
The transaction is still in the process of being finalized, but in a statement released by Digicel, O’Brien stated that the agreement under consideration was the greatest outcome for the two-decade-old company that expanded from one market in Jamaica in 2001 to more than 30 markets today.
The company’s current debts amount to approximately $4.6 billion.
A consortium of creditors holding fifty percent of Digicel’s debt struck an agreement on the debt-for-equity swap.
