Dutch cable operator Ziggo postponed its IPO due to “volatile stock markets,” according to sources familiar with the situation, reported Dow Jones Newswire.
In April, Ziggo hired four banks, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Deutsche Bank and UBS, in order to prepare for an IPO, but at that time no decision was made on when the process would begin. The floatation of Ziggo could value the biggest Dutch cable operator at around €7 billion.
As soon as these plans were announced, Shane O’Neill, chief strategy officer of Liberty Global, expressed his interest in acquiring the Dutch operator.
Ziggo is owned by private equity firms Warburg Pincus and Cinven, and is the result of a tripartite fusion within the cable industry, which started with Warburg Pincus purchasing Multikabel in 2005. The following year Warburg Pincus and Cinven bought Casema and combined the operator with Multikabel. In 2006, the two companies acquired the cable assets of Essent (@Home) and changed the name of the resulting entity to Ziggo.
