An investigation will be launched into the acquisition and operations of Amplia Communications Limited, a subsidiary of State-owned TSTT.
Responding to questions from the media on Thursday, Minister of Public Utilities, Barry Padarath, said discussions with TSTT’s management revealed that Amplia has been draining financial resources and duplicating existing operations.
He added that inquiries into the State-owned company’s 2017 acquisition of Amplia from Massy Communications Limited, when the UNC was in opposition, indicated that the Government at the time was unaware of the circumstances surrounding the purchase.
“Amplia continues to bleed us financially, and there’s a lot of duplication of efforts between Amplia and TSTT. I am advised that a company that was one-tenth or less thereof of the acquisition price that TSTT paid for Amplia was the value of Amplia at that time, and therefore questions have to be answered.”
Amplia, then known as Massy Communications Ltd, was acquired by TSTT in 2017 for over $200 million, which, according to Minister Padarath, was much more than the company’s valuation.
“How could a company valued at such a small value be acquired at such a large figure without any Cabinet or Ministerial approval? And therefore it tells me there’s more in the mortar than the pestle, and therefore we will be launching an investigation in terms of how Amplia was acquired, the circumstances, the financing, and who made that decision to acquire Amplia, a company that continues to bleed and duplicate the efforts of the main company, which is TSTT.”