Liberty Global has agreed to buy its Dutch joint venture partner Vodafone’s stake in VodafoneZiggo for 1 billion euros ($1.18 billion) in cash, the companies said on Wednesday.
It will then combine the Netherlands operator with Belgium’s Telenet and spin it out.
Vodafone will retain a 10% stake in the enlarged Benelux telecoms company named Ziggo Group, which will be listed on Euronext in Amsterdam in 2027, subject to Liberty Global shareholders’ approval, the companies said.
In a separate deal also announced on Wednesday, Liberty Global said it would team up with its partners Telefonica and InfraVia in Britain to buy the country’s second largest “altnet” fibre network Netomnia for 2 billion pounds ($2.7 billion).
That deal will add more than 3.4 million fibre premises and over 500,000 customers to the partners’ British footprint, which will reach 8 million premises with full fibre by the end of 2027, challenging BT’s national Openreach network.
Adding the high-speed cable customers on the Virgin Media O2 network, jointly owned by Liberty Global and Telefonica, would increase the footprint to 20 million premises, giving internet service providers a wholesale alternative to BT, it said.
LIBERTY GLOBAL SHARES JUMP
Shares in Liberty Global were trading 11.3% higher in early deals in New York. Shares in London-listed Vodafone were up 4%.
Mike Fries, chairman and CEO of Liberty Global, said the Ziggo combination would create a regional powerhouse of two converged fixed and mobile companies operating in rational markets.
“We are excited about giving shareholders the opportunity to participate directly in Ziggo Group’s future growth and value creation,” he said.
Vodafone and Liberty Global brought together their mobile and fixed-line networks in the Netherlands nearly a decade ago to create a stronger competitor to former monopoly KPN.
Vodafone’s Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle said the deal had been agreed at an attractive valuation.
“This transaction delivers 1 billion euros in cash to Vodafone, and we have the potential for further value creation through our 10% stake in Ziggo Group, a business with greater scale,” she said.
Source: Economic Times