The European Commission has referred the assessment of the E3.16bn acquisition of cableco Kabel BW by US media giant Liberty Global to German competition authorities.
In a statement today, the EC said that the transaction would “significantly affect”…
The European Commission has referred the assessment of the E3.16bn acquisition of cableco Kabel BW by US media giant Liberty Global to German competition authorities.
In a statement today, the EC said that the transaction would “significantly affect” competition in the market for free-TV services to housing associations.
It stated that Germany’s regional cable networks are “currently not competing with one another” and that it was possible that this lack of competition was a result of co-ordination between the operators.
The EC said that the proposed deal between Liberty and Kabel BW could strengthen these “coordinated effects”.
“Moreover, the proposed transaction might threaten to affect competition in the national market for the wholesale supply of TV signal transmission services,” it added.
The EC said that the deal would now be examined by German competition authority, Bundeskartellamt.
Liberty Global announced an agreed acquisition of Kabel BW in late March, beating out PE firms CVC Capital Partners and Hellman & Freidman.
Kabel BW, the country’s number three cableco, provides TV, broadband and voice services in the state of Baden-Wurttemburg.
One of the controversial aspects of the deal is that Liberty Global also owns the number two player, Unitymedia.
Liberty is advised by Goldman Sachs, while Freshfields is the legal adviser.
The financial advisers for Kabel BW are Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan.
