Friday 25th September 2026
Digicel is moving to concentrate its operations and investment more heavily on the Caribbean after agreeing to sell its El Salvador business, as part of a restructuring focused on markets where it sees stronger long-term growth prospects.
The company has signed a definitive agreement to sell Digicel El Salvador to General International Telecom El Salvador SA de CV (GITES).
The transaction, for which no purchase price was disclosed, is expected to close during the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
The deal will further reduce Digicel’s footprint outside the Caribbean and the Guianas. El Salvador is its only remaining market outside the Caribbean basin, meaning that once the transaction is completed, the company’s operations will be concentrated on the Caribbean, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
“Over the past year, we have been executing a clear strategy to build a stronger Digicel and position the company for long-term growth,” said Group Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Cataldo.
“This transaction is another step in that strategy, allowing us to sharpen our focus on the Caribbean and concentrate our resources and investment behind markets where we have strong positions and see significant opportunities for growth,” he added.
Digicel plans to direct additional resources towards subsea connectivity, fibre expansion, network capacity, technology and customer experience across the region.
“We are incredibly optimistic about Digicel’s future in the Caribbean,” Cataldo said, adding that the company is “investing in our networks, technology, products and customer experience, and we intend to continue building on the progress we have made to deliver greater value for our customers and communities across the region.”
The decision also forms part of Digicel’s effort to improve its balance sheet following a major debt restructuring and refinancing programme.
In April, the company repriced an approximately US$648mn term loan due in 2032, lowering the interest rate by 0.75 percentage points. That followed a US$100mn voluntary debt repayment. Digicel also completed a refinancing that included an upsized US$1.99bn senior secured notes offering due in 2032.
Fitch Ratings said the El Salvador sale would not affect Digicel’s credit rating, noting that the market contributes less than 5% of consolidated revenue and that the transaction is not expected to materially reduce the company’s approximately US$2.67bn debt burden as of June 2026.
Fitch recently upgraded Digicel to B+ with a stable outlook, citing improving financial performance and continued deleveraging. The ratings agency expects adjusted gross leverage to decline to 3.7 times earnings in fiscal 2027 from 3.9 times in fiscal 2026, while net leverage is projected to improve to about 3.1 times from 3.4 times.
Digicel reported approximately US$1.8bn in revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of US$710mn for the financial year ended March 2026. Fitch expects adjusted EBITDA to rise to between US$730mn and US$740mn in fiscal 2027, supported by modest growth in business-to-business and fixed operations.
The El Salvador transaction continues a longer-term contraction in Digicel’s international footprint. In 2022, the group sold its Pacific operations to Telstra, exiting Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and Nauru. Those operations had generated US$431mn in revenue and US$233mn in EBITDA in the year ended March 2021.
GITES already operates in El Salvador through the former Telefónica Movistar business, acquired in 2022. Its proposed acquisition of Digicel will therefore require regulatory review and could lead to further consolidation of the Salvadoran telecommunications market.
Earlier in September, Digicel appointed former Telefónica executive Salvador “Salva” Hierrezuelo as group chief business officer, bringing more than 20 years of experience across Latin America.
Digicel currently operates across 25 markets and serves about 9mn customers through mobile, broadband and business services. With the El Salvador sale, the company is signalling that its next phase of growth will be centred firmly on the Caribbean, where it intends to deepen investment.
Source: Caribbean Insight – Volume 48, Issue 17
Facts Only
* Digicel is moving operations and investment more heavily on the Caribbean after agreeing to sell its El Salvador business.
* Digicel signed a definitive agreement to sell Digicel El Salvador to General International Telecom El Salvador SA de CV (GITES).
* The transaction is expected to close during the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions.
* Post-transaction, Digicel’s operations will be concentrated on the Caribbean, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.
* Group Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Cataldo stated the transaction allows sharpening focus on the Caribbean and concentrating resources in growth markets.
* Digicel plans to direct additional resources towards subsea connectivity, fibre expansion, network capacity, technology, and customer experience across the region.
* The company is working to improve its balance sheet following a debt restructuring and refinancing program.
* Fitch Ratings stated the El Salvador sale would not affect Digicel’s credit rating as the market contributes less than 5% of consolidated revenue.
* Digicel reported approximately US$1.8 billion in revenue and US$710 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for the financial year ended March 2026.
Executive Summary
Digicel is restructuring its operations by selling its El Salvador business to General International Telecom El Salvador SA de CV (GITES). This move shifts the company's operational focus heavily toward the Caribbean, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, as El Salvador becomes its only remaining market outside the Caribbean basin. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2027, pending regulatory approvals.
This strategic shift reflects the Group CEO's stated strategy to build a stronger Digicel by concentrating resources and investment on markets with strong growth prospects. The company plans to reinvest these resources into regional initiatives, specifically focusing on subsea connectivity, fibre expansion, network capacity, technology, and customer experience across the region. Furthermore, this divestment supports Digicel’s effort to improve its balance sheet following recent debt restructuring activities.
Fitch Ratings indicated that the sale would not materially affect Digicel's credit rating, noting the small contribution of the El Salvador market to consolidated revenue and the existing debt burden. Financial metrics show revenue of approximately US$1.8 billion and adjusted EBITDA of US$710 million for the year ended March 2026.
Full Take
The narrative presents a clear pattern of strategic contraction and reinvestment, moving from a broad international footprint to a highly focused regional concentration. The core tension lies between external restructuring pressures (selling assets) and internal growth ambition (investing regionally). The language consistently frames the action as a necessary step toward optimization and long-term value creation, which is typical in corporate repositioning.
The shift from selling out peripheral markets like El Salvador to heavily concentrating on the Caribbean suggests a pattern of prioritizing perceived high-potential areas over maintaining diversified global exposure, especially given the context of previous sales (e.g., Pacific operations). This implies a dynamic where external financial health drives internal geographic strategy. The management framing successfully links asset divestiture directly to strategic focus and future growth investment.
The implication is that future valuation will be heavily weighted by the performance within this newly defined Caribbean-centric operational scope. A crucial question arises about the sustainability of relying on concentrated regional growth when the rationale for this move is framed as securing long-term opportunity. What happens if unforeseen macro-economic shifts impact the entire Caribbean simultaneously? Furthermore, while debt restructuring is noted, the focus remains tightly on revenue and EBITDA projections, leaving the systemic risks associated with network concentration or reliance on specific emerging markets unexamined by the provided text.
Bridge Questions: If market conditions shift such that growth opportunities emerge outside the defined Caribbean/Guianas corridor, what flexibility does this concentrated strategy allow Digicel to adapt? How will the newly focused investment in subsea and fibre infrastructure mitigate potential bottlenecks in a smaller geographic scope? What were the long-term expectations for the revenue streams of the sold international assets versus the projected returns from the new regional focus?
Sentinel — Human
The text reads like professionally reported business news, weaving together strategic decisions, financial maneuvers, and market context efficiently.