DSS statement on the sale of Marpin 2k4

Flow General Manager Jeffrey Baptiste and Director of Dominica Social Security Janice Jean-Jacques exchanging signed copies of the Sales Purchase Agreement (SPA)

As of August 2014, the Dominica Social Security (DSS) Board–being the sole shareholder of Marpin 2K4 Ltd.–decided that its investment in Marpin 2K4 Ltd. had been available for sale.  Since then, a number of firms and individuals have expressed  interest in purchasing DSS’s shares in the company, but it is the firm of Cable & Wireless Communications Ltd. which provided the DSS with the most favorable offer and  maintained its interest  to the very end.

The DSS  announces that after a prolonged period of negotiations and the conducting of necessary due diligence, the Dominica Social Security (DSS) and Cable & Wireless Communications (C&W) operators of FLOW have finally signed the Share Purchase Agreement, effectively transferring DSS’s shares in Marpin 2K4 Ltd. to the said Cable & Wireless Communications (C&W) operators of Flow. 

Hence, with effect from 12 May, 2017, the Dominica Social Security ceases to be the owner of Marpin 2K4 Ltd. and, from here on, the operations of Marpin are expected to be integrated with that of Cable & Wireless Communications, operators of Flow. 

The DSS is satisfied that such a decision to divest itself of this investment was in the continued best interest of the contributors on whose behalf the Social Security Fund is being managed in trust.  DSS therefore, takes the opportunity to thank all the stakeholders of Marpin 2K4 Ltd. for their forbearance over the course of the last several months and looks forward to the anticipated improvements in the fortunes of Marpin 2k4 and the services that it provides.

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13 Comments

  1. Annon
    May 19, 2017

    Price?? Come on, come on just tell us the price so we can know if we made off big or if we took a loss. We are smart enuff to things out but if it’s a sweet deal don’t hide it DSS.

    • Annon
      May 19, 2017

      To figure fings out

  2. Mouton Batalie
    May 16, 2017

    Wait a minute. Are we so dumb as to accept this piece of correspondence and keep moving? DSS, if you have forgotten, your establishment is built on and operates on people’s money. Therefore, you are obligated to give us an explanation. I remember when this horrendous deal was made to bail out ‘rich people’. Poor peoples hard earned money was used in a very non-productive ‘investment’ in a company which had already koolay and its owner running away. After losing so much of peoples money and trying to cut down on payments, you now sell your interest and will not tell the people how much of their hard earned money you have retrieved. Did you make a loss or a profit? Did we at least break even? We need to know!!

  3. RastarMarn
    May 15, 2017

    RastarMarn question to the Honorable Catherine Daniel is:
    under who’s authority was it for you to decide what to do with the public Purse, seeing the Dominica Social Services is a public entity fueled by the inhabitants of Dominica, how is it that these private transactions are being conducted without public input???

  4. Keeping Watch
    May 15, 2017

    Keep your eyes on what FLOW does with fixed services in St. Lucia to presume what may be done here… Unless FLOW hasn’t realized the capital it will take to make good of Marpin’s network, the more likely long term outcome would be to make the cable network good enough to move all FLOW customers onto a fit for purpose network that delivers enhanced cable tv and improved internet access.

    Liberty Global who owns Cable & Wireless has CATV as its roots. I’d expect them to turn the cable tv network and service around first….but alas, I don’t expect it in a hurry as it hasn;t even really begun in St. Lucia one year after acquisition. This will take time, effort, and plenty ca$$$$$h!

    Remember the sequence…Cable & Wireless (operating as LIME) bought FLOW couple years ago….then Liberty Global bought Cable & Wireless…but decided to keep FLOW as the operating name since it resonated as a better brand than LIME.

  5. ISIS
    May 15, 2017

    I wonder how soon will DSS divest it’s interest in that building it purchased recently from that private business person…

  6. jaded
    May 15, 2017

    It is not acceptable that the price of this deal is not disclosed to the public. We need to know not only the price that C&W paid but also how much DSS paid for Marpin and how much it cost DSS to operate it. We also need to know if DSS realized a profit or a loss.

  7. Tony
    May 13, 2017

    Hello and good evening my people. Well why would they sell Marpin which is generating funds to DSS and they still haven’t tell us the price. There won’t be any competition in the cable provider industry and prices will go up as consumers lost some if their favorite programs.

  8. Scampy
    May 13, 2017

    For a purchase price of $100 – a great deal! :)

  9. Frank Talker
    May 13, 2017

    What did the regulators have to say about the sale?

  10. Hello?
    May 13, 2017

    What’s the purchase price? This is a government owned property – it should be reported in plain english!

  11. May 13, 2017

    Hmm. On the one hand, I understand why DSS would want to maximise the amount it gets from this. On the other hand, It’s hard to see how consumers will benefit from the decrease in local telecommunications competition that a sale of Marpin 2K4 to FLOW represents.

    • Dante Jones
      May 14, 2017

      Implying that marpin 2k4 was any competition to begin with. The only thing they were still (somewhat) good at is the idiot box which most people should be cancelling their service of anyway. The only thing that really matters is internet service and marpin’s service was crap although it was slightly better than Flow with better speeds but less reliability.

      I think more than anything once the remnants of PIng internet subscribers start being switched over to the Flow model they’ll realise that there’s a better option and start leaving in droves so Flow can realise once and for all that their prices are way too high for the type of service they offer.

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