Dutch incumbent telecom operator KPN will acquire Caiway, Holland’s fourth largest cable operator with 158,000 homes connected. The move marks a return by KPN to the cable business and needs to be approved by the regulators.
KPN and the owners of CAIW Holding, CIF Investment, and Caiway management reached an agreement to acquire all shares in CAIW Holding. The agreement only covers the services division, the ownership of the actual networks remains in the hands of Rabo Bouwfonds’ Communication Infrastructure Fund (CIF) and the regional cable networks (mostly municipality owned). No financial details about the deal were issued.
Caiway offers triple play services in Westland, Midden-Delfland, Schiedam, Maassluis, Aalsmeer, Uithoorn, IJsselstein, Lopik (Benschop), Halderberge (Oudenbosch), Den Haag (in the Wateringse Veld area), Gouda en omgeving, Hilvarenbeek, parts of Capelle a/d IJssel, Loenen aan de Vecht, Krimpen aan den IJssel and Utrechtse Heuvelrug (Doorn).
On March, 31, 2011, Caiway served 143,000 TV customers, 74,000 broadband homes and 33,000 telephone subscribers. After Ziggo, UPC and Delta, Caiway is the fourth largest cable operator in the country. It is the first cabler with an all-digital network after switching off analogue TV on October 10, 2010.
In a statement, Aart Verbree, CEO Caiway said about the proposed transaction: “The activities of Caiway as a service provider are not part of the core activities of its owner, CIF. Therefore, a search for which fits better with the ambitions of Caiway. With the technological knowledge and experience of KPN, we continue to invest in the best possible service to our customers. Caiway is a forerunner in the Dutch cable market, as with the introduction of 100% digital television services in 2010. With the rollout of a high-speed fibre optic network by CIF and strong shareholder KPN we can to realise our ambition in the long-term the most reliable and fast network with its advanced services to our customers. The team within Caiway looking forward to the opportunities this new situation allows for further professional and personal growth.”
The acquisition of Caiway marks a return of KPN into the cable business. The incumbent was one of the original investors in the country’s first cable network, Casema, in the city of The Hague. However, the government decided that the company had to divest itself from the cable infrastructure.
The agreement needs to be approved by the Dutch competition authority NMA.
