Telenet makes €58m vertical play

Belgian cableco Telenet has agreed to acquire 50% of Flemish broadcast company De Vijver Media, indirectly acquiring Finnish group Sanoma’s 33.3% stake in the TV network for €26m and injecting €32m into the business in exchange for stock.
The…

Belgian cableco Telenet has agreed to acquire 50% of Flemish broadcast company De Vijver Media, indirectly acquiring Finnish group Sanoma’s 33.3% stake in the TV network for €26m and injecting €32m into the business in exchange for stock.

The acquisition is part of Telenet parent Liberty Global’s broader strategy to invest in content. The cableco’s CEO Mike Fries is of the view that vertical integration between cable operators and content providers makes sense.

Telenet CEO John Porter acknowledged that the De Vijver deal was “not an obvious step for a cable company”, but the company said it was the next step in convergence to create the best offering for customers.

The agreement will now be submitted to the European competition authorities for final approval. Telenet said that it would not be consolidating De Vijver and that its participation in De Vijver would not result in changes to the agreements it has with other television providers.

The remaining 50% of De Vijver is split between its CEO Wouter Vandenhaute and his business partner Erik Watte, who own 25% through their company W&W, and local media group Corelio, which holds the final 25%.

In January 2013 Liberty took its stake in Telenet up from 50.2% to 57.21%. Porter was appointed two months later, joining from Australian pay-TV group Austar United Communications.

Gives up 3G plans

Separately, Telenet and its Walloon counterpart Voo have abandoned plans to launch 3G services.

The cablecos, together in a consortium, paid €71.5m in summer 2011 to acquire a 10-year licence allowing them to become Belgium’s fourth network operator, alongside Base, Mobistar and Proximus.

The companies later requested to postpone a January 2013 deadline to roll out their network, reportedly arguing that they needed to lease infrastructure from existing operators to be able to offer competitive services. They were fined €5,000 by Belgium’s telecoms regulator BIPT for the delay last summer.

The cablecos have now informed BIPT that they no longer intend to use the 3G licence, Telenet confirmed in an email to TelecomFinance.

Telenet already has an MVNO, which runs over Mobistar’s network. Last year, it extended that agreement to 2017, which will also allow Voo to offer mobile services.