CABLE CONGRESS 2011 – LUCERNE. The Dutch cableco Ziggo would be a “great synergistic fit” for Liberty Global should it come on the market, according to Shane O’Neill, chief strategy officer, Liberty Global and president, Chellomedia.
However, he added that there are no talks taking place between the two parties and no such deal on the horizon.
Although there have been press reports about further possible Liberty deals in Germany, O’Neill said that the company did not enter the German market on the basis of more acquisitions.
Speaking in a session entitled Investors, Money & Growth, O’Neill referred to OTT as the biggest threat currently faced by the cable industry.
“I think some of us are doing the right stuff. But we can’t spends a single moment of complacency.”
In his view, OTT will become a bigger challenge to the cable industry in the next 5-7 years rather than 12-18 months.
O’Neill also spoke about the bigger opportunity offered by working with mobile operators, though he felt there are unlikely to be wholesale mergers between cable and mobile companies for some years.
Commenting on the general recovery in the financial markets and how this was benefiting the cable industry, Marisa Drew, managing director, co-head of Global Markets Solutions Group, Credit Suisse, said that €90 billion had been raised for European corporations since the debt crisis.
Around 10% of this was for cable companies, with Liberty and its affiliates accounting for half of the latter.
