Cable & Wireless Panama (CWP, +Movil) has confirmed that it has successfully fulfilled all resolutions set out by the Consumer Protection and Competition Authority (Autoridad de Proteccion al Consumidor y Defensa de la Competencia, ACODECO) in relation to its takeover of Claro Panama. While the two companies’ networks have been integrated since last October, the ‘full integration process’ between the two units remains ongoing. CWP notes: ‘Gradually, as +Movil emerges as the company’s flagship brand, Claro stores will use the +Movil brand.’ This switchover is expected to happen in 2023.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, the Liberty Latin America (LLA) subsidiary agreed to acquire Claro Panama in September 2021 in an all-cash transaction valued at USD200 million. As a result of the tie-up, in April 2022 rival operator Digicel Panama announced its intention to apply for voluntary liquidation and withdraw from the Panamanian telecoms market as a result of the merger, which it protested represented an ‘illegal economic concentration’.