Euskaltel has completed its acquisition of R Cable, just months after UK-based TMT fund bought Asturian counterpart Telecable.
Basque cableco Euskaltel (BME:EKT) has closed its acquisition of Galician counterpart R Cable, which had a final enterprise value of€1.19bn (US$1.3bn). The transaction creates a weightier northern Spanish player, while retaining the local brands and staff of each company.
Last week, Euskaltel carried out a capital raise worth €255.1m, with Citigroup and UBS as joint global coordinators and Rothschild as financial adviser, the final hurdle to closing the transaction.
The Basque company said it had financed the deal using the capital raise, existing bank debt worth €600m [part of a €850m loan], €300m in institutional debt underwritten by four banks and cash on its balance sheet.
Euskaltel had also taken out a €850m (US$953m) loan, €600m of which went towards the cash payment. That loan was led by Santander, BBVA, Caixabank
It had previously secured a €470m (US$527m) loan, aimed at refinancing debt, paying extraordinary dividends and bonuses related to its end of June IPO, which valued the company at €1.2bn (US$1.34bn).
Together, the two triple-play groups will have a 725,000 km fibre network, 715,000 customers, earnings of €570m and EBITDA of €265m. Each company will retain its own brand.