MONTREAL-Continuing its efforts to divest its Asian telecommunication properties, Canadian communications company Bell Canada International Inc. signed a definitive share purchase agreement with Taiwan Cement Corp. to sell its 20-percent interest in Taiwanese personal communications services provider KG Telecom for $533.9 million.
BCI expects to receive an initial payment of $81.1 million for a 3.1-percent interest in KG Telecom in September, with the remainder due no later than Feb. 28, 2001.
“During the past nine months, BCI has signed agreements to sell all our Asian assets, generating total gross proceeds of $1.5 billion and a net gain of $1 billion-almost a four-fold increase in the value of our original cash investment in these Asian ventures,” explained Louis Tanguay, president and chief executive officer of BCI. “As previously announced, our strategy going forward is to focus on Latin America growth opportunities.”
