John Malone’s Liberty Global (LGI) is still considering a combination with Dutch cableco Ziggo to expand in the Netherlands, according to CFO Charles Bracken.
Speaking at an investor conference in Barcelona, Bracken said LGI, which has built a 28.5%…
John Malone’s Liberty Global (LGI) is still considering a combination with Dutch cableco Ziggo to expand in the Netherlands, according to CFO Charles Bracken.
Speaking at an investor conference in Barcelona, Bracken said LGI, which has built a 28.5% stake in Ziggo, is looking at a potential deal long-term, Bloomberg reported.
He noted there are clear synergies between Ziggo and LGI’s Dutch subsidiary UPC Netherlands, but stressed that LGI is “very disciplined about prices”.
In mid-October, Ziggo rejected a preliminary proposal from LGI to acquire the company, describing it as inadequate. In its statement at the time, Ziggo said it was not sure whether it would receive a revised offer from the larger company.
An earlier report in Germany’s Manager Magazin said LGI was planning a full takeover of Ziggo, aiming to combine it with UPC Netherlands and Belgium’s Telenet, which it controls too.
At the conference, Bracken reportedly said LGI is happy to keep its current stake in Ziggo. Liberty will focus on developing its existing assets as there is not much left to buy in Europe, he commented.
Earlier this year, LGI added to its European portfolio by buying UK cableco Virgin Media for US$23.3bn. The cable giant also made a preliminary bid for Germany’s Kabel Deutschland, but lost out to Vodafone.
