CVC Capital Partners has acquired a 35% stake in the Spanish cable operator R.
El Pais reports that that R, which is based in Galicia, has been majority owned by Caixonova since September 2008. Although it will now have a 65% interest in R, CVC Capital Partners has an option to increase its stake from 35% to 70%. It is likely to take up the option in the next few months.
CVC Capital Partners has acquired its initial stake largely from a number of minority shareholders including Banco Pastor (9.91%), Total Cable (9.72%) and Emalcsa (1.89%).
The sale agreement puts the value of the cableco at €700 million, of which debts account for €250 million.
Should CVC Capital Partners exercise its option, the final price paid will be similar to that by Caixanova in September 2008.
R was launched in 2000 and has deployed over 140,000km of fibre in more than 74 locations throughout Galicia. It currently has over 250,000 subscribers throughout the region.