Swedish private investor EQT plans an IPO for its Kabel BW cable network, should a suitable buyer not be found. This could happen as soon as before this Easter, according to German press reports.
EQT is looking for a price of up to €3 billion for the network which it acquired for €1.3 billion in 2006. Apart from fellow cablers Liberty Global’s Unitymedia and Kabel Deutschland, a number of private equity firms including Providence are reported interested in buying the operator that serves 2.3 million homes in the state of Baden-Württemberg.
“It is absolutely false that we will not get the price we have in mind for Kabel BW, “EQT Germany boss Marcus Brennecke told the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
A sale to Liberty Global’s Unitymedia or Kabel Deutschland would signal further consolidation of the German cable market, but it seems uncertain if the German regulators will allow such an acquisition by either of the operators.
