German cableco Tele Columbus is reportedly in discussions with several potential acquirers, aiming to close a sale by year-end.
Private equity firm CVC Capital is among the financial investors interested in the company, which could be valued at about…
German cableco Tele Columbus is reportedly in discussions with several potential acquirers, aiming to close a sale by year-end.
Private equity firm CVC Capital is among the financial investors interested in the company, which could be valued at about €600m (US$813m), the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter.
The report also named Cinven as an interested party, but TelecomFinance understands the PE firm is no longer in talks with the cableco.
It is suggested the potential buyers could fuse the heavily-indebted Tele Columbus – Germany’s third-largest cableco – with smaller, privately-owned rival Primacom to become an attractive target to mobile operators.
Yesterday, Vodafone sealed its €7.7bn (US$10.44bn) acquisition of Germany’s largest cableco, Kabel Deutschland (KDG).
Tele Columbus CEO Ronny Verhelst said his company is “well advanced” in talks with potential acquirers but declined to name them.
A spokesperson did not provide further details on the matter, while CVC and Cinven declined to comment on the rumours.
Tele Columbus owners, a consortium of banks, launched a new sale process in April, managed by Rothschild, sources told TelecomFinance at the time. This followed KDG’s failed €618m takeover bid, which the German regulator blocked even after remedies were offered, saying it was concerned it would reduce competition in areas where the two operators compete directly.
Germany’s second-largest cableco is Liberty Global’s Unitymedia/KabelBW while smaller players include Pepcom and Deutsche Telekabel.
