Private equity investors GMT Communications Partners (GMT) and Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS) have sold Pepcom GmbH to STAR Capital Partners. With 630,000 subscribers Pepcom has been built into Germany’s sixth largest cable operator.
Between them GMT and VSS held equal stakes amounting to an interest of 81%, with the remainder being in the hands of the operator’s senior management. Under agreement management have agreed to roll their proceeds from the sale into the new investment vehicle controlled by STAR.
“Against the backdrop of the toughest macro-economic environment in memory, we are delighted with this exit, which will help Pepcom accelerate its plans for future growth,” said Jeffrey Montgomery, Managing Partner of GMT. “Pepcom exemplifies GMT’s ability to identify and make platform investments and to support continuing additional investment, as part of a long-term strategic plan. GMT’s ability to identify a growth market investment opportunity, as well as the managerial talent to drive the business, is rooted in the strength and depth of its industry experience, its pan-European reach and its transaction experience.”
Pepcom had been established as an investment vehicle with the intention of consolidating some of Germany’s smaller cable operators. This resulted in the acquisition of 12 such operators including the 2005 purchase of Kabelfernsehen München ServiCenter GmbH & Co. KG (KMS), a Bavarian cable TV and broadband operator which more than doubled Pepcom’s business.
Analogue and digital cable services have been developed alongside broadband internet and VoIP telephony.
Pepcom had previously attracted the attentions of Orion Cable and Kabel Deutschland.
