Reuters: Private Equity: UPDATE 1-Kabel Deutschland to buy Tele Columbus for $786 mln

Reuters: Private Equity Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

UPDATE 1-Kabel Deutschland to buy Tele Columbus for $786 mln May 21st 2012, 07:21 Mon May 21, 2012 3:21am EDT * Purchase price 603 million euros, plus accrued interest * Deal must be approved by German competition regulator * Shares up 0.1 pct, slightly underperforming main index FRANKFURT, May 21 (Reuters) - German cable company Kabel Deutschland has agreed to buy regional player Tele Columbus for about 618 million euros ($786.2 million), snatching one of the last large targets left in the consolidation of Germany's once-fragmented cable market. The acquisition, if approved by Germany's competition regulator, will bolster Kabel Deutschland's bid to accelerate its already strong growth and profit in Germany. "The business of Tele Columbus overlaps to a large extent with Kabel Deutschland's footprint," Kabel Deutschland said in a statement on Monday. Tele Columbus provides cable services to 1.7 million customers, mainly in Berlin, Dresden, Magdeburg and Potsdam in eastern Germany. The purchase price amounts to 603 million euros, plus accrued interest, bringing the total to 618 million euros as of Dec. 31, 2011, the company said, adding that the purchase price would allow for full repayment of the debt of Tele Columbus's debt. Kabel Deutschland shares were up 0.1 percent in early trade, slightly underperforming a 0.5 percent stronger German midcap Tele Columbus is currently owned by funds including York Capital, Golden Tree Asset Management and Avenue. However, it remains to be seen how Germany's Federal Cartel Office will view the takeover. Such deals had long been restrained by regulation that effectively banned mergers among large players. For example, Kabel Deutschland tried to merge with Kabel Baden-Wuertemberg (KBW) and Unitymedia in 2004 to take on Deutsche Telekom, but was thwarted by competition authorities. But some analysts now believe antitrust regulators are becoming more open to consolidation among cable companies, and they point to Unitymedia's 3.16 billion euro acquisition last year of Kabel BW as evidence. The German cable market was once one of Europe's most fragmented, with a proliferation of smaller regional players offering television and broadband services. But private equity firms and companies like Unitymedia and Kabel Deutschland have restructured the market by buying up smaller companies to create more efficient larger players. The deal was flagged by sources last week, when Kabel Deutschland was seen having beaten out Deutsche Telekom , Liberty Global and private equity investors. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions