Bids for Kabel BW, the number three German cableco, are due today, TelecomFinance has learned.
Number one and two players KDG and Liberty Media-owned Unitymedia, as well as a host of private equity firms reportedly including Apax Partners, CVC Capital…
Bids for Kabel BW, the number three German cableco, are due today, TelecomFinance has learned.
Number one and two players KDG and Liberty Media-owned Unitymedia, as well as a host of private equity firms reportedly including Apax Partners, CVC Capital Partners, and Hellman & Friedman, are expected to bid.
The main question for both strategic suitors is whether the German regulator would allow such a transaction to take place, especially since the federal cartel office last year told KDG it was not allowed to merge with Kabel BW or Unitymedia on anti-trust grounds.
Despite this, there is hope on both sides of the deal would be allowed, particularly because of a perception that regulators at the EU level are more supportive of consolidation.
In Germany, there is a view that the main concern of the regulator is on the content side rather than the delivery side, since the current market leaders control different regions within the country.
Kabel BW’s current private equity owner EQT, which paid E1.3bn for the company in 2006, is advised by JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank. This time round, it has been valued at between E2.5bn and E3bn.
Unitymedia is believed to have hired Goldman Sachs as its adviser.
It is thought that potential suitors will have access to a staple financing worth some E2bn.