Columbus Communications Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Columbus Communications Inc, owns 5,954,600 Cable Bahamas shares or ﾓ29.8 percent of the outstanding ordinary shares of Cable Bahamas.ﾒ
After nearly a decade as the driving force behind the start-up and growth of Cable Bahamas, founder and major shareholder Philip Keeping is calling an end to his involvement with the company.
According to a press release issued yesterday by the company Mr. Keeping has entered into a ﾓbinding purchase and sales agreementﾒ to sell ﾓ100 percent of Barbados incorporated Columbus Communications Incﾒ to a Canadian-led group, Ironbound Holdings (Barbados) Inc.
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Brendan Paddickﾴs Ironbound group takes over as Cable Bahamas major shareholder. Mr. Paddick returns as CEO and is expected to become chairman of the board.
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Columbus Communications Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Columbus Communications Inc, owns 5,954,600 Cable Bahamas shares or ﾓ29.8 percent of the outstanding ordinary shares of Cable Bahamas.ﾒ
In January 2004 an American company Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Incorporated (HMTF) bought Persona and as part of the arrangement Mr. Keeping who held 14 percent of Personaﾴs shares and was a director agreed to acquire all of Persona Communications Barbados Inc.ﾴs (PCBI) shares.
PCBIﾴs sole asset was Columbus Communications Ltd., which held 25 percent of Cable Bahamas shares. According to a release issued by Persona in January, Mr. Keeping would acquire ﾓall of the issued and outstanding shares of PCBI, Personaﾴs indirect and wholly owned subsidiary for C$25.8 million and the release of Personaﾴs guarantee of US$15 million in preferred shares of PCBIﾴs wholly-owned subsidiary, Columbus Communications Inc. The only material asset of PCBI is an indirect 25 percent equity interest in Cable Bahamas Limited. The consideration received by Persona for these shares in PCBI is included in the price per Persona common share to be paid by the Purchasers.ﾒ
Mr. Keeping in effect was able for abandoning the Persona guarantee of US$15 million preference shares to receive all his shares held in Columbus Communications Ltd, back from Persona.
At the time of the sale of Persona to HMTF of Dallas Texas, in January 2004 Personaﾴs president, Brendan Paddick stated ﾓTodayﾴs announcement marks the successful conclusion of the shareholder value maximization process initiated by Persona in April 2003.ﾒ
On May 6 2003, Persona Inc announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Columbus Communications Ltd had ﾓexecuted a definitive purchase agreement to acquire an additional 954,599 common shares of Cable Bahamas Ltd from Philip Keeping, which represents the balance of Mr. Keepingﾴs holdings in Cable Bahamas.ﾒ
At the time of the announcement in May 2003, Mr, Paddick who was then Personaﾴs president said that Persona was ﾓextremely pleased to add to our holdings in Cable Bahamas.ﾒ
He went to state that ﾓthe purchase of additional shares of Cable increases Columbusﾴ [the Columbus Communications Incﾴs subsidiary] position to just under 30 percent of the issued and outstanding shares of Cable Bahamas. Without a doubt Cable Bahamas was the most strategic acquisition ever made by the Persona group of companiesﾒ.
According to the press release issued yesterday, Ironbound is purchasing Keepingﾴs Columbus Communications Inc precisely because ﾓColumbus Communications Inc., through its subsidiary, Columbus Communications Ltd., owns 5,954,600 shares of Cable Bahamas Ltd. representing 29.8% of the outstanding ordinary shares of Cable Bahamas.
Ironboundﾴs principals are Brendan Paddick, John Risley and Daniel Meyers.
According to the press release Mr. Paddick brings considerable experience and expertise as a major shareholder of Cable Bahamas.
The release stated that Mr. Risley is Chairman of Clearwater Seafoods Limited Partnership (CSLP), a Halifax, Nova Scotia-based, publicly traded seafood harvesting, processing and distribution business he co-founded in 1976 (TSX:CLR.UN). He was also a director and shareholder of Persona up until the closing of the July 2004 transaction.
Mr. Meyers is Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Board and Co-founder of The First Marblehead Corporation, a public company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:FMD). Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, First Marblehead helps meet the growing demand for private education loans by providing an integrated suite of services for student loan programs.
Upon the closing of the transaction between Mr. Philip Keeping and Ironbound, it is anticipated that Mr. Paddick will be nominated to become the Chairman of the Board of Cable Bahamas. Mr. Paddick has extensive capital market experience. Between 1995 and 2003, he was instrumental in Personaﾴs success at raising close to $1 billion in debt and equity financing through transactions ranging from the companyﾴs initial public offering, private placements of debentures, rights offerings, private equity placements, syndicated banking facilities, subordinated debt and preferred share offerings. Mr. Paddick was also a member of Industry Canadaﾴs National Broadband Task Force in 2001, a Canadian government initiative to shape that countryﾴs roll out of ubiquitous broadband access.
Mr. Paddick holds both a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Business Administration from Memorial University of Newfoundland. In 2000, he graduated from the Advanced Management Program (AMP) at Harvard University in Boston, Harvardﾴs global executive MBA program.
Mr. Paddick also served for four years on the Board of Directors of Fishery Products International Limited (TSX:FPL), where he was the Chair of the Growth and Investments Committee. He served as a Member of the Board of Regents of Memorial University of Newfoundland for six years, where he was a member of the Finance Committee, Executive Compensation Committee and the Investments Committee.
Commenting on the transaction, Mr. Paddick, CEO of Ironbound said that ﾓthe Ironbound investor group is delighted to have this opportunity to contribute to the expansion and improvement of the world class services currently being offered by Cable Bahamas and its subsidiariesﾒ and added that he is personally ﾓlooking forward to resuming an active role with the outstanding team of professional and support staff at Cable Bahamas, as they continue to deliver both value to shareholders and cutting edge technical solutions and products to its residential and commercial customers alikeﾒ.
C.E. Huggins, The Bahama Journal
