European cableco Liberty Global has sold the majority of its media content businesses to US broadcaster AMC Networks for €750 million (US$1bn).
Liberty’s CEO Mike Fries said the disposal of substantially all of Chellomedia allowed the operator to…
European cableco Liberty Global has sold the majority of its media content businesses to US broadcaster AMC Networks for €750 million (US$1bn).
Liberty’s CEO Mike Fries said the disposal of substantially all of Chellomedia allowed the operator to focus on its core markets and concentrate on more strategic content.
“For Liberty Global, this transaction is attractive from both a valuation and liquidity perspective,” Fries added.
Morgan Stanley was Liberty’s sole financial adviser on the transaction, which the parties expect to close in Q1 next year. The transaction is not conditional upon any regulatory approvals being received.
Guggenheim Securities served as lead financial adviser to AMC, providing capital structure and financing advice. BofA Merrill Lynch has committed debt financing for the transaction and also served as a financial adviser to AMC, while Clifford Chance provided legal counsel.
As well as selling the media content businesses, Liberty is also disposing of Chellomedia’s stakes in its content joint ventures with other partners including Portuguese telco Zon Optimus and CBS International.
The only Chellomedia asset it will retain is its Dutch premium channel business. In the Netherlands Liberty owns the second largest cableco, UPC Netherlands, and recently approached rival operator Ziggo about a possible takeover.
Ziggo rejected the preliminary offer as it was considered too low but Liberty may return with another bid. It has built a 28.5% stake in Ziggo since March and combining it with UPC would create a nationwide cableco potentially capable of challenging incumbent KPN.
Liberty has operations in a total of 14 countries. The company completed its takeover of Virgin Media in early June for US$23.3bn and is now domiciled in the UK.
