Suitors for Swedish cable operator Com Hem must submit second round bids by 7 July, reports Dow Jones.
It is reportedly expected that Cinven, Nordic Capital, CVC and BC Partners will participate.
Last week, it was reported that Blackstone, Nordic,…
Suitors for Swedish cable operator Com Hem must submit second round bids by 7 July, reports Dow Jones.
It is reportedly expected that Cinven, Nordic Capital, CVC and BC Partners will participate.
Last week, it was reported that Blackstone, Nordic, Hellman & Friedman, BC Partners and CVC had submitted first round bids.
Current owners Carlyle and Providence Equity are advised by Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley.
Com Hem’s 2010 EBITDA was SKr1.85bn (US$294.4m), a 13% rise on the previous year’s figures. Dow Jones suggested that based on the 8.1 EBITDA multiple – based on expected 2011 earnings – offered by Liberty Global for Kabel BW in Germany, Com Hem could be worth some SKr15bn (US$2.39bn).
Potential strategic buyers are Telenor and TeliaSonera, which in fact used to own ComHem before a split enforced by regulators. The eventual buyer is much more likely to be a private equity firm, due to high cash reserves as well as the fact that telcos’ shareholders might object to the difference in multiples, since operators currently have EBITDA multiples of some 5-6 times.
