Liberty Global completed the anticipated spin-out of its Latin American business, stating the business will have “access to the capital and resources necessary to achieve superior financial and strategic growth”.

Mike Fries, CEO of Liberty Global and executive chairman of Liberty Latin America, said: “As Liberty Latin America charts its own course going forward, it will continue to benefit from its Liberty Global heritage and will have access to key shared services and expertise across products, technology, procurement and more.”

Balan Nair, president and CEO of Liberty Latin America, said: “In a region that is currently served by a highly fragmented range of operators and with customer penetration rates roughly half of more mature markets, we see significant prospects for long-term growth both organically as well as through strategic M&A.”

Nair said as Liberty Latin America starts its new life, “this is not business as usual”, Financial Times reported. The region has been hit by two hurricanes which severely impacted power and other infrastructure, impacting Liberty’s revenue and leading to bills for reconstruction.

“Good businesses are built to withstand these things,” he said.

The new unit has 3.7 million mobile subscribers and a fixed network passing 6.4 million homes. Annual revenue is around $3.7 billion.

Its businesses include Cable & Wireless Communications, VTR.com and Liberty Cablevision.