German cableco Tele Columbus has appointed a chairman to its new supervisory board, as its operating arm converts into a stock corporation to facilitate expansion plans.
Frank Donck, a former supervisory board chairman of Belgian cableco Telenet, will…
German cableco Tele Columbus has appointed a chairman to its new supervisory board, as its operating arm converts into a stock corporation to facilitate expansion plans.
Frank Donck, a former supervisory board chairman of Belgian cableco Telenet, will lead the new three-member supervisory board.
The other members are Carsten Boekhorst, a partner with the UK’s Pamplona Capital Management, and former Belgian prime minister and OECD vice president Yves Leterme.
Tele Columbus Holding, the operating arm, converted into a stock corporation last Friday and will now be known as Tele Columbus AG. In a statement, the group stressed that the change in legal form and name has no impact on its operating business or registered office, which will remain in Berlin.
Tele Columbus AG CEO Ronny Verhelst said the conversion into a stock corporation “completes the structural and organisational realignment we have been implementing over the past years.
“The new legal form also gives us more flexibility for additional growth and the future development of Tele Columbus.”
Tele Columbus confirmed in July that it is considering its strategic options, including an IPO.
The group has been up for sale repeatedly in the past but failed to find a buyer.
In 2013, Germany’s largest cableco KDG, now owned by Vodafone, made an unsuccessful attempt to acquire Tele Columbus, meeting resistance from the German antitrust regulator.
Tele Columbus has also sought to play an active role in in-market consolidation, making a takeover offer for smaller rival Primacom last year. However, Primacom rejected the offer.
Meanwhile, Niek Jan van Damme, managing director of Deutsche Telekom’s German business, told a local publication last month that the company was closely monitoring the local cable market and open to buying up smaller operators. Both Tele Columbus and Primacom were named as potential targets.
