The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has given the green light for Liberty Global’s UPC Polska to buy Polish cable operator Aster, subject to conditions.
“According to the antitrust authority, the transaction would result in a…
The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has given the green light for Liberty Global’s UPC Polska to buy Polish cable operator Aster, subject to conditions.
“According to the antitrust authority, the transaction would result in a significant restriction of competition on the market of chargeable television and the access to the stationary broadband Internet in the area of [Cracow and Warsaw], which would definitely be harmful to the recipients,” UOKiK said in a statement.
The acquisition makes UPC the largest cableco in Poland with twice as many users as number two player Vectra.
At the end of September 2010, Aster had 368,000 TV, 177,000 internet and 70,000 fixed-line subscribers. Although most of its subscribers are in Warsaw, Aster also reportedly has 50,000-60,000 clients in Crakow.
In return for regulatory approval UPC will resell parts of Aster’s network in Cracow and Warsaw within the next 18 months.
Liberty Global agreed to buy Aster from Mid Europa Partner for PLN2.4bn (US$875m) last December. The deal consists of an equity purchase price of PLN870m (US$317m) and about PLN1.53bn (US$558m) in debt.
Mid Europa was advised by Credit Suisse, while Liberty Global did not use any external financial adviser but received legal counsel from Allen & Overy.
