Viatel enters European market, gets investment
February 1, 2000 05:45 AM
NEW YORK, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Long-distance phone company Viatel Inc. VYTL said on Tuesday it entered the European local market and obtained $325 million in investments from buyout firm Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst and Chase Capital Partners.
The company said in a statement that it had started local service through fiber optic networks in London, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf, Germany.
It also has entered the New York metropolitan market, the statement said.
Viatel plans to offer high-speed data services as well as voice services in the new markets. They will start to be rolled out beginning in the second quarter of this year.
Viatel also said it would issue $325 million in Series B cumulative convertible preferred stock due 2015 to Hicks, Muse and Chase Capital Partners.
The terms of the security call for an annual dividend rate of 7.5 percent, with a conversion price of $46.25 per share.
((-- New York newsdesk, (212) 859-1700)) REUTERS
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