PSINet sells Latin American operations

Recently bankrupt Internet-hosting and Web service provider PSINet said today it has signed a letter of intent to sell-off most of the company’s still viable Latin American operations and facilities.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed and no timetable as to when the deal would be completed was provided.

If approved by regulatory and bankruptcy bodies, investment group Cori Capital Partners and other investors – including members of the PSINet Latin America management team – would purchase subsidiaries in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay.

Several PSINet subsidiaries have been approved for sale in recent months and a PSINet spokesman said the Latin American deal would be carried off smoothly as well.

“We don’t anticipate anything that would stop this,” he said.

Sale proceeds go to PSINet in order to, “continue operations to restructure the business,” the spokesman said. He said the company’s restructuring efforts are focusing operations on broadband access and hosting while tackling its $4 billion debt.

The Latin American businesses were not part of PSINet’s bankruptcy filing, which included the company’s U.S. and Canada divisions. The heavy debt burden is on its U.S. operations only.

Chilean operations are still for sale. Though the company said it is in discussions with “a potential purchaser group,” talks would not necessarily lead to a sale.