In what would amount to its latest bold move in the European cable sector, John Malone's Liberty Global is reportedly considering a takeover bid for Germany's Kabel Deutschland. Liberty this week was granted approval by the European Commission to proceed with its $23.3B acquisition of the UK's Virgin Media and last 
month it bought a minority stake in Dutch cable operator Ziggo. Liberty is already present in Germany where it controls the country's second-largest cable company, Unitymedia. Citing sources familiar with the situation, Bloomberg reports that Liberty has not made a decision on Kabel Deutschland and is aware of potential antitrust issues. Kabel Deutschland is also a takeover target for Vodafone Group, Bloomberg sources said. Kabel stock was up to 73.32 euros in Frankfurt trading this afternoon, valuing it at $8.5B. An acquisition by Liberty would add 8.5M subscribers to its existing 7M and create a rival to Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone, Bloomberg noted.
No comments:
Post a Comment