CWC/Batelco - beauty at sunset As history has proved, the sun can set on empires. And sometimes the sunset can even be pretty. So it was on Monday when Cable & Wireless Communications - the telecoms network business that emerged from the 2010 demerger at the UK's Cable & Wireless - revealed that it could receive over $1bn for its interests in eight islands (from Diego Garcia to Guernsey) and a controlling stake in Monaco Telecom. This much-rumoured sale to Bahrain's Batelco comes in two parts. There will be $680m in cash upfront for the island interests and a 25 per cent stake in a holding company which owns 55 per cent of Monaco Telecom. The rest of CWC's Monaco business will then be bought for a further $345m provided regulatory consent can be secured. All the assets are being sold free of cash and debt, making the exit multiple in the deal's first stage a generous 6.3 times historic earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. That rises to 6.7 times if part two also completes. Since the disparate nature of these assets made them look harder to sell than, say, CWC's Macau business (where a disposal is also pending), the chunky price is all the more creditable. So far, so good. What, though, remains? CWC will be exposed to about 20 markets - half the number two years ago - with revenues of about $1.8bn. These are mainly in the Caribbean and Panama, where performance has been patchy and Digicel is a fierce competitor. That said, CWC's net debt to ebitda falls to 1.8 times after phase one of the Batelco deal, and could drop out of the 1.5-2.5 times target range if the second part and the Macau disposal go ahead. So choices could loom between reinvestment in the retained businesses and returning cash to investors. CWC shares rose 4 cent on Monday, but until that balance is resolved, they may struggle to make significant further headway.