Ian Kehoe on Business

An unexpected tale emerges in the carefully honed Digicel story, courtesy of ZTE and the US government

Denis O’Brien’s mission to float Digicel has taken another hit after the US banned exports to Chinese telco ZTE, a key strategic partner for the Caribbean network

Three years ago, Denis O’Brien and his senior lieutenants at Digicel were secretly laying the groundwork to take the telecoms company public via an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. The plan was announced in June, but O’Brien’s battalion of advisers had been busy for months preparing for the announcement.

The flotation was designed to pay down the company’s debt mountain, which stood at around €6.5 billion, debt that was ...