UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 6-K
Report of Foreign Private Issuer
Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For
the month of February, 2006
Viatel Holding (Bermuda) Limited
(Translation of registrant’s name into English)
Inbucon House
Wick Road
Egham, Surrey TW20 0HR
United Kingdom
(Address of principal executive offices)
Indicate by check mark whether
the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover Form
20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F ž Form 40-F o
Indicate by check mark if
the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by
Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): ___
Indicate by check mark if
the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by
Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): ___
Indicate by check mark whether by furnishing the information contained in this Form,
the registrant
is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Yes o No ž
If
“Yes” is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to
the registrant in connection with
Rule 12g3-2(b): 82- ___
Viatel Holding (Bermuda) Limited, the pan-European provider of advanced data and IP communications
services, today announced that it has entered into a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) to sell 50% of its European long haul
network to Global Voice Group Limited (GVG). GVC is currently
the owner of 14 metropolitan network in cities throughout Europe.
Under the proposed transaction, Viatel will receive:
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A cash payment of 25m Euros on closing |
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5 pairs of metro fibre in each of 7 European cities — Amsterdam,
Utrecht, Rotterdam, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Düsseldorf and London
(when complete) totalling over 750 route kilometres,
and |
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Preferential pricing for up to 2 additional fibres and
building access. |
In turn,
GVC will acquire half of Viatel’s existing backbone network assets through an
effective 100-year lease with an option to acquire ownership of the assets at a date to be
agreed. Viatel will also assign to GVC existing wholesale customer revenues totalling
approximately €2.6m per year.
After an
initial period of two years, GVC will also contribute 50% per year in
respect of the network’s operating costs. In addition, GVC and Viatel will enter into a
50/50 JV company to acquire new equipment, as and when required, for the purpose of adding “state of the art”
transmission equipment to the network.
Through
this deal Viatel will be combining ownership of an advanced backbone fibre backbone network with metro fibre reach into major business
districts. Following closing, Viatel will be able to offer its business customers managed IP network services
and Voice over IP direct to their premises without being dependent on local third party suppliers.
Viatel’s CEO, Lucy Woods said; “This is an exciting deal for Viatel; our revenue growth has been
strong, and with this additional network reach and substantial contribution to our network costs,
we will have a platform to extend our addressable market and further improve our services to
customers.”
The MOU envisages completion of the transaction, subject to and following completion of
satisfactory due diligence and agreement on definitive legal documentation, by 31 March 2006.
Note:
This will add to Viatel’s infrastructure which currently consists of:
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A 6,800 kilometre pan-European fibre network connecting Germany, France, Belgium,
Holland, Switzerland and the UK, built at a cost of 1.2 billion Euros |
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Two undersea cross-channel cables linking Continental Europe to the UK |
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Metropolitan fibre network infrastructure in each of Paris, London and Frankfurt |
