KeyTech Ltd. is set to acquire a 33 percent stake in Cayman-based WestTel Ltd. giving it complete control of the company, it was revealed yesterday.

WestStar TV Ltd, the sister company of telecommunications provider WestTel Ltd. has agreed to transfer its remaining shares in the company to KeyTech, pending approval by the country's Information, Communication and Technology Authority.

KeyTech already owns 67 per cent of the shares in WestTel and following the completion of the transaction would hold all of the company's shares. KeyTech plans to expand WestTel's fibre-optic cable network in Cayman.

A general commercial notice posted in the Cayman Islands gazette in May noted: "As part of this application, WestTel also requested an amendment to...its ICT licence in order to delete the requirement that at least 25 per cent of its equity be held by Caymanians."

Companies governed under the Information, Communication and Technology Authority Law in the Cayman Islands do not have to comply with the Local Companies (Control) Law, which requires 60 percent Caymanian ownership in any local business.

The WestTel share transfer was not expected to affect WestStar TV, local cable customers, or the local news operations of the Cayman 27 television station.

WestStar TV representatives said that there would be no immediate impact to WestTel's telephone and Internet customers in the Cayman Islands.

"WestTel's infrastructure plan requires a large capital injection, which majority shareholder KeyTech Limited is willing to provide," WestStar's press release stated. "As a result, KeyTech and WestStar have been in discussions to ensure KeyTech's shareholding in WestTel reflects this investment."

Neither company is publicly traded, so the price of the shares transaction was not immediately known.

Both businesses said they would keep all stakeholders informed during the changeover.