The parents of Ziggo are preparing for an initial public offering that could value the Dutch cable operator at around EUR 7 billion, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Ziggo parents, the private equity firms Cinven and Warburg Pincus have hired STJ Advisors to prepare for the IPO. STJ has been interviewing banks and could appoint bookrunners as early as next week. Meanwhile, Liberty Global chief strategy officer Shane O'Neill told the Financial Times that the company might make a bid to pre-empt a possible flotation of Ziggo. O'Neill said Ziggo was "a big asset in a very important market". Liberty Global already owns UPC in the Netherlands, but O'Neill said he believed that Dutch regulators would not obstruct the formation of a monopoly if his company decided to bid. "It is the situation that exists in the UK, in France and in Spain," he said. Private equity firms CVC and Hellman & Friedman could also be interested in Ziggo. A spokesman for Ziggo said that no decision about an IPO had yet been made.
