Some minutes ago, in Buenos Aires, Impsat¿s meeting of holders reached an end after passing the sale to the firm Global Crossing Limited, with the support of over 70% of the holders. This clears the way to close the operation late in the quarter. As scooped by Convergencialatina, the transaction comprises a US$ 95 million payment in cash and a debt for US$ 241 million.

The meeting was chaired by Ricardo Verdaguer, CEO of Impsat. The transaction was supported by nominated holders (among them Morgan Stanley and UBS stand out) that held 65% of Impsat. Only 0.17% of the holders opposed the operation; while the rest did not participate in the voting. The final round rendered 40% more votes than necessary for the approval, as half plus one of the holders¿ votes was the minimum.

The transaction was passed at US$ 9.32 per share, thus amounting to some US$ 95 million in cash, in addition to taking over Impsat¿s debt, estimated at US$ 241 million, to June 30th, 2006.

With this operation, Global Crossing expects to increase its annual income of over US$ 270 million, while annual operative savings after the incorporation are estimated to reach over US$ 10 million.  Impsat is to speed up Global Crossing¿s strategy to offer IP converging services to companies and telcos at global level, besides maximizing corporate finances.

Impsat  will add over 4,500 clients to Global Crossing¿s portfolio, backed up by a special sales and customer service teams with actual presence in seven Latin American countries. Impsat¿s IP network connects main cities, its 15 metro networks and 15 advanced hosting centers, and will provide a greater service coverage and operation¿s coverage for Global Crossing in Latin America. Impsat will also increase scale at regional levels, and will strengthen its competitive position as service provider for corporate clients and multinational telecom firms.