Liberty asks TRB, FCC to OK OneLink acquisition
Liberty Cablevision is headquartered in Luquillo.
Liberty Cable of Puerto Rico filed its application late Friday before the Telecommunications Regulatory Board for approval of its bid to buy San Juan Cable LLC, known as OneLink Communications, News is my Business confirmed.
To be able to complete the transaction worth $585 million, Liberty needs go-ahead from the local regulatory agency as well as the Federal Communications Commission. The company reportedly also filed its application before the stateside regulator early last week, TRB President Sandra Torres confirmed.
The filings come several weeks after MidOcean Partners and Crestview Partners confirmed they entered into a definitive agreement with the local subsidiary of Liberty Global Inc. and investment funds affiliated with Searchlight Capital Partners, L.P. to sell off its San Juan property.
OneLink is the largest provider of cable TV, high-speed data and telephony services in Puerto Rico and upon merging with Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico — Liberty Global’s local subsidiary, and the second largest cable company on the island — will become Puerto Rico’s largest cable carrier and a formidable competitor against the satellite television companies serving the market.
Eventually, the larger Liberty property could also face-off against Puerto Rico Telephone’s IPTV-based television service, ClaroTV.
The TRB is currently accepting consumer comments on this proposed transaction.
