John Malone’s Liberty Global Plc agreed to buy Cable & Wireless Communications Plc in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at £3.5 billion ($5.3 billion), extending the US billionaire’s European cable empire deeper into Latin America, Bloomberg reported. Cable & Wireless shareholders will get a special 3 pence-a-share dividend at the deal’s close, according to a statement Monday. The transaction is valued at 78.04 pence per CWC share, based on Friday’s closing price. As part of the deal, Liberty Global will take on CWC’s net debt, which was $2.7 billion as of Sept. 30.
