DIGICEL GROUP, the telecoms company owned by Irish billionaire businessman Denis O’Brien, completed a $775 million (€563 million) bond issue late on Tuesday. The finance will be used by Digicel Group to acquire its sister company, Digicel Pacific (DPL).

The finance raised from the eight-year notes, which were priced at 10.5 per cent, is required by Digicel to complete its proposed acquisition of a 51 per cent stake in DPL, set to take place from April. The remainder of the company may be purchased at a later date. Mr O’Brien is set to gain more than €500 million from the sale, as he has an 84 per cent shareholding in DPL.

The sale will value the equity in the business at $825 million (€600 million).

DPL operates in six markets in the Pacific region and had 1.63 million subscribers at the end of 2009. Digicel Group operates in 32 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific and has 10.75 million subscribers.

The group said DPL is an attractive asset for it to buy because it increases its scale and diversifies currency and regulation risks.