Liberty Global makes rival approach to Kabel Deutschland

Nieuws Breedband Duitsland 18 JUN 2013
Liberty Global makes rival approach to Kabel Deutschland
Kabel Deutschland confirmed that it has received a preliminary takeover approach from Liberty Global. The announcement comes days after Vodafone also confirmed its interest in acquiring the German cable operator. Liberty Global already owns Unitymedia and Kabel BW in Germany and has repeatedly signaled its interest in further consolidation. Kabel Deutschland said the talks were still at an early stage and there was no guarantee of an agreement.

Categories:

Vast

Companies:

Vodafone,  Kabel BW,  Kabel Deutschland,  Liberty Global,  Unitymedia

Countries:

Duitsland

Tags:

Cable - Docsis, Internet Access, Wholesale, M&A buyouts & divestments

Related Articles

DUITSLAND 8 DEC 2014

Liberty Global in talks to settle German anti-trust concerns

Liberty Global is working on a solution to resolving its legal problems in Germany. Liberty's CFO Charles Bracken told Reuters he expected the obstacles in the country to be overcome. "In Germany we are facing a shakedown from the regulators. But the KabelBW transaction will not be unwound. We are working to negotiate a solution with regulators." Asked whether the firm wants to quit the country, Bracken said: "We love Germany." Sources familiar with the matter earlier told Reuters that Liberty could conside

EUROPA 2 AUG 2013

Liberty Global Q2 results boosted by Virgin Media takeover

Liberty Global reported second-quarter sales up 25 percent year-on-year to USD 3.16 billion. Its takeover of Virgin Media in the UK contributed around two-thirds of the increase, and the company's organic growth was 4 percent. The cable operator saw a slowdown in customer growth in the period, with 191,000 revenue-generating units added on an organic basis compared to 364,000 a year ago. This was due to a slowdown in Germany and East Europe and tough competition in the Netherlands, where it lost customers.

DUITSLAND 2 JUL 2013

Vodafone/Kabel Deutschland combination threat for Telekom Deutschland

Following several months of rumours, Vodafone announced on 24 June a bid for Germany's largest cable network operator Kabel Deutschland. The bid worth a total EUR 7.7 billion, or EUR 87 per share, is supported by Kabel Deutschland's board of directors. If shareholders and regulators approve the transaction, the combination will have 32.6 million mobile customers, 5.0 million broadband customers and 7.6 million TV customers, generating annual revenue of EUR 11.5 billion.

DUITSLAND 27 JUN 2013

Liberty could still make counterbid for Kabel Deutschland

Liberty Global believes that a counter-offer for German cable network operator Kabel Deutschland is still feasible should it decide to make one, reports Bloomberg citing unnamed people familiar with the situation. One of the sources said that it could decide as early as this week whether to submit a counterbid or walk away. Liberty Global declined to comment on the report. Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Germany's Cartel Office believes that a takeover of Kabel Deutschland by Liberty Global would be more pr

DUITSLAND 26 JUN 2013

Vodafone Germany unveils new smartphone tariffs

Vodafone Germany will launch two new entry-level, post-paid smartphone tariffs at start-July with internet flats, call and text packages from EUR 9.99 per month. It will also expand the Red S plan with allnet flat-rates for voice and texts, plus an enhanced data package. The new Vodafone Smart S and Smart M smartphone plans will be available from 08 July. For EUR 9.99 a month, Smart S offers an internet flat-rate with 200 MB high-speed data, 200 texts to all network, and 50 minutes of calls to all German mo

DUITSLAND 26 JUN 2013

Vodafone Germany suffers network disruption

Vodafone Germany suffered network disruption on the afternoon of 25 June which affected mobile data services, inside-handy.de reports. Affected services includes MMS and mobile internet, with customers affected in the Berlin, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Duesseldorf, Bonn and the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis metropolitan areas.

DUITSLAND 25 JUN 2013

Vodafone Germany loses Corporate Communications Director

Vodafone Germany has announced that Thomas Ellerbeck, Director of Corporate Communications, Policy, Regulation and the Vodafone Foundation, will leave the company 30 June. He will take up a management post with travel group TUI, but will remain on the board of the Vodafone Foundation.

DUITSLAND 24 JUN 2013

Vodafone offers EUR 7.7 bln for Kabel Deutschland

Vodafone has offered EUR 7.7 billion for Kabel Deutschland, valuing the German cable operator at EUR 87 a share. Based on a Business Combination Agreement signed with the board of Kabel Deutschland, Vodafone will pay EUR 84.50 per share cash, and shareholders will also receive a EUR 2.50 per share dividend for the current fiscal year, to be confirmed at KDG's annual shareholders meeting in October. Kabel Deutschland has about EUR 3 billion in debt that would be assumed by Vodafone. The offer is a 37 percent

DUITSLAND 20 JUN 2013

Vodafone negotiates increased offer with KDG - report

Vodafone is negotiating a EUR 7.5 billion (USD 10 billion) cash offer with German cable network operator Kabel Deutschland (KDG), reports Reuters citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. Vodafone believes that its offer and lack of anti-trust issues places the company in a better position than rival bidder Liberty Global. Liberty Global recently made a EUR 85 per share offer, outbidding Vodafone's earlier offer of EUR 81-EUR 82 per share (EUR 7.2 billion in cash). A source told Reuters that Vodafone

DUITSLAND 19 JUN 2013

Liberty offers assets in Kabel Deutschland bid - report

Liberty Global is preparing a bid for German cable network operator Kabel Deutschland that offers assets instead of cash, reports the Financial Times. According to two people familiar with the move, Liberty Global is proposing to inject its existing cable network assets in Germany and retain Kabel Deutschland's public listing, as it looks to avoid regulatory opposition to its bid. By using this structure, Liberty Global would not have majority ownership at the holding company level, although it would still

DUITSLAND 17 JUN 2013

Vodafone takes the lead in consolidation

Vodafone has confirmed its long-rumoured interest in Kabel Deutschland. While no price was mentioned, KDG has a market capitalisation of EUR 6.6 billion, and a premium of 20-25 percent on that suggests a bid of at least EUR 8.5 billion would be required. KDG's share price has already shot up over the past 12 months from around EUR 40 to EUR 75, and the confirmation from Vodafone sent the price past EUR 80. According to the latest media reports, KDG has rejected a bid of EUR 81-82 from Vodafone. At the same

DUITSLAND 17 JUN 2013

Vodafone prepares higher bid for Kabel Deutschland - report

Vodafone is preparing to make a fresh bid approach to Kabel Deutschland, following the rejection of its initial offer of nearly EUR 80 a share. People familiar with talks told the Financial Times that, while no new approach has yet been made and no decision reached over the price to be offered, it was unlikely that Vodafone would walk away from the deal. One of the people said that Vodafone was likely to offer slightly more than KDG's current market price of EUR 82 a share in order to get access to the Germ

DUITSLAND 12 JUN 2013

Vodafone confirms talks with Kabel Deutschland

Vodafone confirmed it has made a "preliminary approach" to Kabel Deutschland over a possible bid for the German cable operator. The statement follows multiple press reports since early this year that the mobile operator is looking to expand its fixed-line business in Germany by acquiring KD. Vodafone said it was uncertain still whether the approach would result in an actual bid. KD is the largest cable operator in Germany with around 8.5 million customers. The German operator also confirmed the approach fro

DUITSLAND 5 JUN 2013

Liberty eyes further international market consolidation

Liberty Global CEO Michael Fries told Dow Jones Newswires that the company is interested in further market consolidation internationally, including in Germany. Speaking at the ANGA COM cable and satellite show in Germany, Fries said that Liberty wanted to profit from economies of scale in all countries where it operates, not just in Germany. In Germany, Fries said that it was running into several growth-related challenges, but declined to give details. Liberty Global already controls Germany's second larges

DUITSLAND 4 JUN 2013

Vodafone interested in Kabel Deutschland again - report

Vodafone is one again examining a potential takeover of German cable network operator Kabel Deutschland, reports the Wall Street Journal Deutschland newspaper citing several unnamed people familiar with the matter. The sources said that Vodafone had not yet decided whether to proceed with an offer, or when such a decision might be made.

Just In

19 DEC 16:42

SLT-Mobitel launches 5G network in Sri Lanka

19 DEC 16:19

Dialog Axiata launches 5G network, connects 1.5 million subscribers

19 DEC 15:56

UK govt to ban AI-enabled nudification apps to protect women, girls

19 DEC 15:42

3 UK launches last-minute Christmas sale

Commentary

13:56

Video market set for slower growth ahead

11:38

Netflix buys Warner Bros to deepen content catalogue

11:11

KPN's mixed performance in Q3 raises questions for strategy day

15:26

Stock markets breaking records but what happened to Odido's IPO plans?

Background

01:04

The week in telecom: Wi-Fi bolt-ons take off to boost broadband growth, video market works on consolidation

01:39

The week in telecom: Netflix wins bidding for Warner Bros, Apple poaches new execs, Samsung debuts trifold

13:51

Proximus vs. Telenet: Proximus performs better in Q3 while Telenet uses up cash

14:16

Proximus Domestic still struggling with low margins

Complete profile

Before downloading the whitepaper, we would like to ask you to complete your profile with company and position. After confirming you will receive the white paper.