The only other remaining bidder, Luxembourg's Millicom International Cellular, has agreed to pay 372m for a controlling stake in Colombia Movil. Colombia Movil is jointly owned by Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogota, the main fixed-line telephone company in Colombia's capital, and Empresas Publicas de Medellin, a public-utility company that provides fixed-line telephone services.

The company is seeking a partner to bring both capital and expertise as it competes against telecoms giant Telefonica and America Movil, Latin America's largest mobilephone company. At present, it is the third-placed operator with an 8.9% share of the Colombian mobile telecoms market.

A statement issued by Digicel said Colombia Movil was "an exciting business" but that the company had chosen not to pursue the opportunity to acquire a 50.1% stake in the business "given other expansion projects underway".

"Digicel will continue to follow an aggressive growth strategy, which includes acquisitions and bids for new licenses throughout the PanCaribbean region, " the statement concluded.

Last month Digicel raised 117m in a bond issue to fund the expansion of its business in the Caribbean. It has operations in 20 Caribbean countries including Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Haiti.

Additional reporting Bloomberg