Viettel to Acquire 60% Stake Worth $99M in Haiti’s Teleco

Vietnam-based Military Telecom Group, or Viettel has agreed to pay $99 million to acquire a 60% stake of Haiti’s state-run telecom firm, Telecommunications d’Haiti (Teleco).

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has issued a press release confirming that Haiti’s government and central bank have signed an agreement selling the stake to Viettel.

The Vietnamese company has agreed to invest an initial $59 million and an additional $40 million in the next four years to upgrade Teleco’s existing network and services damaged during a strong earthquake in January, and build a fiber optic cable network to help Haitian firm extend broadband internet access to provincial towns.

Under previous reports, Viettel would also inherit Teleco’s outstanding debts estimated at over $30 million.

After the investment, Teleco will become a new joint venture firm with licenses and frequencies to provide a full range of services including wireline, fixed-wireless, international submarine cable, WiMAX-based wireless broadband and cellular.

The IFC served as the advisor to the Haitian government in building the international bidding process for the public-private partnership (PPP), which is expected to significantly contribute to the Caribbean country’s recovery by rebuilding infrastructure and increasing access to fixed, mobile and high speed internet services.

The deal marks the newest investment move of Viettel aboard after it expanded business to Cambodia and Laos. It is also preparing to bid for a 60% stake worth $250 million in Bangladesh’s mobile phone network Teletalk

Tags: Haiti's Teleco, Viettel