Liberty Global could be among the bidders for German cable operator Tele Columbus, according to published reports,an auction that has attracted some of the biggest names in German cable.
Tele Columbus, owned by several different private equity funds including York Capital and Golden Tree Asset Management, was put on the auction block earlier this month. Among the interested suitors are Germany ‘s largest cable operator - Deutsche Telekom - and Liberty Global, the second largest cable company in the country.
Liberty Global declined to comment.
Tele Columbus has about 2 million subscribers and is coveted because of its triple play penetration. According to several reports, the systems are valued at between $790 million and $1 billion. Deutsche Telekom is most interested in Tele Columbus' broadband customers, which could help offset DT's slower speed DSL service, those reports claimed.
Liberty Global has been an aggressive buyer - it acquired the third largest German cable operator KBW in 2011 for about $4.48 billion. Liberty recently received approval to sell its stake in Australian cable company Austar to Foxtel for about $1 billion.
In a research note, Miller Tabak media analyst David Joyce wrote that the proceeds from the Austar sale could "easily fund a successful Tele Columbus bid" for Liberty.
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