Cable Congress 2010 – Brussels. The cable industries in Germany, Benelux and CEE are likely to see a lot of activity in the acquisitions sector in the next 12 months, according to Shane O’Neill, chief strategy officer, Liberty Global and president, Chellomedia.
Speaking in a session on finance entitled Show me the money! he added that that 85% of Liberty’s revenues come from Europe and 80% of these from the three markets he identified.
Although Liberty recently acquired Germany’s Unity Media, O’Neill ruled out any move for KDG, believing it would, at least at present, be “a bridge too far”, given the regulatory environment in Germany. He also said that the company’s biggest challenge in the next six months would be integrating Unity Media successfully into its operations.
Furthermore, both he and John Hahn, the MD of Providence Equity Partners (which currently backs KDG and is looking to hold an IPO) dismissed any suggestions that they are in direct competition with Sky Deutschland. In their view, the latter is a pure pay-TV service targeting a chiefly affluent segment of the market.
Meanwhile Marisa Drew, MD, investment banking division, Credit Suisse London, said that the financial market saw the floodgates opened last May. There was now €30bn of issuance, of which 20% was new money financing for the cable sector.
