UK mobile operator Vodafone Group Plc made a deal on the acquisition of European assets of telecommunication company Liberty Global Plc for €18.4 bln, including the company’s debt, amounting to €7.6 bln, Liberty informed, NV reports quoting Interfax-Ukraine.
Liberty Global was created in 2005 as the result of the merger Liberty Media and UGC. The company is the largest provider of the broadband WL beyond U.S.
The deal included Germany, Hungary, Romania and Czech Republic.
The amount of the deal exceeds the free cash flow index 11.5 times, fixed by the unit in 2017. According to Vodafone’s management, the synergy will be about€1.5 per year.
Meanwhile, it is noted that the deal may raise suspicions among antimonopoly regulators. Vodafone is the largest supplier of cable services in Germany, Liberty ranks the second on this country’s market. The representative of German company Deutsche Telekom already spoke against the consolidation of assets.
Vodafone ranks the second in the world among cellular operators in terms of the number of subscribers and fifth in terms of the profit.
