Liberty considers M&A in fixed and mobile – Mike Fries
Liberty Global is looking at acquisition opportunities in both the mobile and fixed-line sectors, according to CEO Mike Fries. The London-based cableco believes there are more cable assets to consolidate in still-fragmented European markets.
Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) is looking at acquisition opportunities in both the mobile and fixed-line sectors, according to CEO Mike Fries.
Asked in a Bloomberg TV interview whether 2016 will be a big acquisition year for the cableco, Fries (pictured) said “maybe”, adding “we don’t have a pipeline we’re willing to talk about but it’s possible”.
Referring to Europe, Fries said there are still more cable assets to be consolidated, with fragmentation in many countries.
In terms of content, he said the company, which describes itself as the largest international cableco with operations in 14 countries, is treading carefully. He pointed to its small stakes in the UK’s ITV and US content provider Lionsgate as windows into new businesses, markets and opportunities.
Liberty boosted its stake in ITV to 9.9% last summer and agreed to buy a 3.4% stake in Lionsgate last November.
He referred to the ITV investment as “a good strategic relationship”, saying it presents advertising opportunities.
“We have incredible amounts of consumer data that we haven’t monetised yet,” he said.
Liberty also expects organic growth in Europe, where it has between 10 and 12 million homes that can be built out, Fries said.
The CEO also indicated that the company expects the European Commission to clear its agreed €1.3bn (US$1.4bn)acquisition of Belgian mobile operator Base from Dutch telco KPN (AMS:KPN) imminently, saying “we’re closing a mobile acquisition in a couple of weeks”.
He said he believes European regulators have generally got it right in terms of consolidation, the planned single telecoms market and net neutrality.
Liberty is also working to close its £3.6bn (US$5.5bn) acquisition of London-listed Caribbean telco Cable & Wireless Communications (LSE:CWC), anno
The cableco recently created a new tracking stock, LILAC, to cover its Latin American and Caribbean operations. It has been linked to possible interest in AT&T’s possible sale of Latin American pay-TV assets gained through its acquisition of DirecTV.
Liberty claims to have 27 million customers subscribing to 57 million television, broadband internet and fixed-line telephone services. It says it has five million mobile subscribers and six million WiFi access points.
