Vodafone has made a formal bid to acquire Spanish cable operator Ono for around EUR 6.9 billion, reports Spanish business daily Expansion, citing unnamed sources close to the matter. The binding offer for 100 percent of the capital will be studied at Ono’s board meeting on 11 February, which was initially scheduled to choose the investment banks that would advise the company on its plans to float on the stock exchange. However, rather than pressing ahead with the IPO, Ono’s owners, which include private equity investors Thomas H Lee Partners, Providence Equity Partners, Quadrangle and CCMP Capital, may opt for a straight buyout. If the sale goes ahead at the reported price, Ono’s shareholders would receive around EUR 3.48 billion, in view of the company’s debt of around EUR 3.42 billion.
Earlier reports stated that Liberty Global would compete with Vodafone for Ono, Spain’s largest cable operator. Ono had an EBITDA of EUR 752 million in 2012, which at the median multiple of 9.4 times would give an enterprise value of EUR 7.1 billion. However, one banking source cited by Reuters said that Vodafone or Liberty would have to come in with a bid at a multiple of 10-12 times EBITDA if they wanted to persuade Ono to drop its IPO plan.
