The owner of Liberty Global, John Malone, plans to acquire more large German cable network operators following the acquisition of German cable network operator Unitymedia in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to German newspaper Handelsblatt citing sources within Liberty Global. When the acquisition of Unitymedia is approved by the authorities, Liberty Global is looking to acquire more networks in Germany. The first target is Kabel BW, which operates in the German state of Baden Wuerttemberg and is owned by Swedish private equity investor EQT. Before the acquisition, Unitymedia was already interested in acquiring Kabel BW, according to industry sources cited by the newspaper. Other possible targets are Germany's largest cable operator Kabel Deutschland (KDG) and debt-laden Orion Cable. Last week, Orion Cable's creditors acquired the assets of the company to restructure its debt and to put it up for sale, and KDG's owner private equity investor Providence is also willing to sell. The acquisition of Kabel BW would fit Liberty Global's footprint well, connecting existing operations in the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland plus Unitymedia to each other. If the acquisitions take place depends on the attitude of the German cartel office, which has been an adversary of consolidation of the German cable market, but industry sources claim that the attitude seems to be changing as cable operators are becoming a competitor on the fixed telephony and internet markets, while DSL providers are moving into the TV market with IPTV offerings. These developments are undermining the arguments for the cartel office to block more consolidation as they no longer impede competition on those markets.
