news2_1 28/02/2014 12:56 Page 1
Volume 6 No. 1 2014
M&A fever returns to broadband MSOs
ignificant M&A
deals have taken
place on both
sides of the Atlantic
with US cable MSO
Comcast agreeing a
$45.2 billion deal to
merge with Time
Warner Cable (TWC)
and in Europe, Liberty
Global is to acquire
Dutch cable operator
Ziggo in a stock and
cash transaction valuing Ziggo at approximately €10 billion.
Meanwhile, Spanish
cable MSO ONO is
pressing ahead with
plans for an IPO
despite reports of a €7
billion bid from mobile giant
Vodafone.
Comcast and TWC say the
transaction will create a leading
technology and innovation company, differentiated by its ability
to deliver ground-breaking products on a superior network while
leveraging a national platform to
create operating efficiencies and
economies of scale, suggesting
that through the merger, more
American consumers will benefit
S
from technological innovations,
including a superior video experience, higher broadband speeds,
and the fastest in-home Wi-Fi.
Following the transaction,
Comcast’s share of managed subscribers will remain below 30% of
the total number of multichannel
video programming distributor
subscribers in the US. The agreement is subject to shareholder
approval at both companies and
regulatory review and other cus-
tomary conditions and is expected to close by the end of 2014.
The deal surprised the market
and scuppered the planned bid
for TWC by Charter which also
had the backing of Liberty.
The Senate Judiciary
Committee is to hold a hearing to
review the impact of the merger
on American consumers.
Chairman Patrick Leahy, a
Democrat Senator from Vermont,
said the merger touched on