{"id":110816,"date":"2020-05-21T06:27:01","date_gmt":"2020-05-21T10:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=110816"},"modified":"2020-05-21T06:27:01","modified_gmt":"2020-05-21T10:27:01","slug":"pm-says-well-buy-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/","title":{"rendered":"PM Says “We’ll Buy It”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>

Prime Minister Gaston Browne says his government’s policy on foreign companies giving locals the first right of refusal also applies to telecommunications companies.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Browne was responding to reports this week that Irish telecommunications company Digicel, filed for bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

The prime minister told an interview on 664 Connect’s, The Hot Seat that despite the country’s challenges with COVID-19 he’ll gladly enter talks for the purchase of Digicel if the owners decide to sell.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

“We have to try and create the opportunity for ownership. I mean Digicel is in trouble right now and even though we have our problems with COVID, if Dennis O’Brien says he’s selling tomorrow we’ll buy Digicel,” he said.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Browne hastened to clarify “I’m talking about the Antiguan branch, we’ll buy it.”<\/p>\n

But the prime minister said “we’ll buy it providing that we get a good price.”<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Digicel has not announced any plans to sell but instead insists that it will be business as usual.<\/p>\n

The prime minister says buying Digicel will guarantee that more money stays in the local economy.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

“In so doing tens of millions of dollars that are repatriated to Ireland on an annual basis could stay here creating some sustainable profits and opportunities for the people of Antigua & Barbuda so it is a sensible thing to do,” he told The Hot Seat during a zoom interview.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

In a statement Digicel said at the start of April, we announced refinancing activities which, when complete, will strengthen our balance sheet by reducing our debt by USD $1.7 billion, extending our maturities and reducing our ongoing financing costs.<\/p>\n

‘Following overwhelming support from our debtholders for these proposals, we are now progressing with the required administrative processes.<\/p>\n

‘As such, we announced details of a proposed Scheme of Arrangement in the Bermudian Courts in connection with Digicel Group One Limited, which is purely an intermediate financing holding company.<\/p>\n

‘This Scheme has the support of over 97 per cent\u00a0of its bondholders and also involves the appointment of a light touch joint provisional liquidators to oversee the implementation of the Scheme.<\/p>\n

‘It\u2019s important to point out that this will have no impact on our day to day operations, our staff, our suppliers, our customers or any aspect of our ongoing activities – it is business as usual.<\/p>\n

‘We will provide further updates on this as we progress.’<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prime Minister Gaston Browne says his government’s policy on foreign companies giving locals the first right of refusal also applies to telecommunications companies. Browne was responding to reports this week that Irish telecommunications company Digicel, filed for bankruptcy. The prime minister told an interview on 664 Connect’s, The Hot Seat that despite the country’s challenges […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":110817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nPM Says "We'll Buy It" - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PM Says "We'll Buy It"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Prime Minister Gaston Browne says his government’s policy on foreign companies giving locals the first right of refusal also applies to telecommunications companies. Browne was responding to reports this week that Irish telecommunications company Digicel, filed for bankruptcy. The prime minister told an interview on 664 Connect’s, The Hot Seat that despite the country’s challenges […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-21T10:27:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Digicel.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1820\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"PM Says “We’ll Buy It”\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-21T10:27:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-21T10:27:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/\"},\"wordCount\":402,\"commentCount\":5,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1820\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Digicel.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/\",\"name\":\"PM Says \\\"We'll Buy It\\\" - Antigua News Room\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1820\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Digicel.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-21T10:27:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-21T10:27:01+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1820\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Digicel.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1820\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Digicel.jpg\",\"width\":1820,\"height\":1024},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"PM Says “We’ll Buy It”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"name\":\"Antigua News Room\",\"description\":\"News As It Happens\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Antigua Newsroom\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"width\":1260,\"height\":1260,\"caption\":\"Antigua Newsroom\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\",\"name\":\"Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"caption\":\"Editor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"PM Says \"We'll Buy It\" - Antigua News Room","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"PM Says \"We'll Buy It\"","og_description":"Prime Minister Gaston Browne says his government’s policy on foreign companies giving locals the first right of refusal also applies to telecommunications companies. Browne was responding to reports this week that Irish telecommunications company Digicel, filed for bankruptcy. The prime minister told an interview on 664 Connect’s, The Hot Seat that despite the country’s challenges […]","og_url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/","og_site_name":"Antigua News Room","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","article_published_time":"2020-05-21T10:27:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1820,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Digicel.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_site":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Editor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/"},"author":{"name":"Editor","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5"},"headline":"PM Says “We’ll Buy It”","datePublished":"2020-05-21T10:27:01+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-21T10:27:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/"},"wordCount":402,"commentCount":5,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1820\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Digicel.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/","name":"PM Says \"We'll Buy It\" - Antigua News Room","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1820\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Digicel.jpg","datePublished":"2020-05-21T10:27:01+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-21T10:27:01+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1820\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Digicel.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1820\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Digicel.jpg","width":1820,"height":1024},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-says-well-buy-it\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"PM Says “We’ll Buy It”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","name":"Antigua News Room","description":"News As It Happens","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization","name":"Antigua Newsroom","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","width":1260,"height":1260,"caption":"Antigua Newsroom"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5","name":"Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","caption":"Editor"},"url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/110817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}