Hints and tips:
...Liberty owns Unitymedia, Germany’s second largest cable operator, and a deal with Vodafone would allow it to combine with Kabel Deutschland, the market leader, which Vodafone bought two years ago....
...Vodafone is progressing with a €7.7bn bid to acquire Kabel Deutschland, a group that Liberty had also registered interest in buying....
...Since reports last week that Vodafone was considering a bid for Germany’s largest cable provider, Kabel Deutschland (KDG) shares have gained 7 per cent....
...More content and the bundling of TV, phone and internet have allowed KDG and Unity Media Kabel BW to persuade customers to subscribe to more services....
...Approval will reduce the number of big cable groups in Germany from four to three, with Tele Columbus boasting 2m basic subscribers, the combined Unitymedia and Kabel BW 7m, and Kabel Deutschland 12m....
...Early in 2011, Simfy struck a deal with Kabel Deutschland, Germany’s largest cable operator, in much the same way as French rival Deezer works with France Telecom elsewhere in Europe....
...One source said Liberty was “very confident” of gaining antitrust approval, even though a combined Unitymedia and Kabel BW would leapfrog Kabel Deutschland to be Germany’s biggest operator by sales and profits...
...Kabel Deutschland, a larger German rival, has also indicated it is interested....
...Last year, Kabel Deutschland was floated by Providence. In the 12 months since, its share price has risen 73 per cent....
...Assuming regulators give their OK, the combined entity will surpass Kabel Deutschland to become the German market leader by revenues....
...This success spurred Kabel BW’s owners to pursue the same path initially....
...Liberty Global last month bought Kabel Baden-Württemberg for €3.2bn, although that deal too remained subject to regulatory clearance....
...Germany’s Kabel Baden-Württemberg sold €2.25bn equivalent of high-yield bonds this week, the biggest such sale globally this year....
...John Malone’s Liberty Global, rival cable group Kabel Deutschland and a number of private equity groups have emerged as bidders in the €2.5bn-€3bn ($3.4bn-$4.1bn) auction of Kabel Baden-Württemberg, Germany...
...Elio Leoni-Sceti, former EMI chief, and Paul Fitzsimons, ex-media sector partner at Apax, have joined Peter Mead, founder of Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, ITV’s Fru Hazlitt and Working Title’s Eric Fellner in...
...Kabel Deutschland (KDG), Europe’s largest cable company, is set to cut debt faster than markets expected and would like to absorb two smaller domestic rivals, said Adrian von Hammerstein, chief executive...
...First, Kabel is not asking equity investors to pay off its debt, as Travelport was. The sale of only 40 per cent of Kabel means the private equity sponsor will maintain significant skin in the game....
...Now, private equity buyers have submitted high-roller bids for Kabel Deutschland, Germany’s biggest cable operator....
...Kabel Deutschland issued a bond in 2003, so high-yield bond investors already know the company well and are likely to support a new buy-out....
...Similarly buy-out groups – including CVC, Carlyle and BC Partners – are currently in talks with banks to finance a €5bn bid for Kabel Deutschland, Germany’s biggest cable operator, which is being lined up...
...Another candidate is Kabel Deutschland, owned by Providence, Germany’s largest cable operator, with a projected 2009 ebitda of about €570m on sales of about €1.4bn....
...It is in talks with Kabel Deutschland, the biggest cable company, to share the rights. Werner Hackmann, DFL president, said Premiere had pressed for too much exclusivity....
...Unity’s rival Kabel Deutschland is expected to come to the market with a similarly sized deal in the next few weeks, according to bank sources....
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