Following weeks of speculation, Dutch cable operator Ziggo said it would proceed with an initial public offering (IPO) on the Amsterdam stock exchange.
Private equity firms Cinven and Warburg Pincus own Ziggo, the country’s largest cable operator. The cabler serves around 3 million homes and is the result of the merger of three networks, Multikabel, Casema and Essent Kabelcom/@Home.
Bernard Dijkhuizen, CEO of Ziggo, said in a statement: “We have strong growth momentum, based on a fully upgraded network, high quality products and continuous customer focus. The IPO is the logical next step for Ziggo. We will become a newly listed Dutch company, with the enhanced capital markets profile to support our growth strategy, in line with our scale and status as one of Europe’s leading cable operators.”
In its online documentation for the IPO, the company states that “Ziggo operates one of the most advanced cable networks in Europe, with a fully upgraded fibre network to within 300 metres of the home providing a competitive network advantage in approximately 87% of its footprint.
“The company’s strategy is to drive growth by leveraging its network capacity advantage to offer best-in-class “triple play” services encompassing high functionality Digital TV, high-speed broadband internet up to 120 Mbps and attractive fixed line telephony services
“In addition, the company is actively pursuing new growth opportunities including “TV Everywhere” services across TVs, PCs, tablets and smartphones and continued growth in the provision of broadband internet and telephony services to business customers.”
J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley will lead the IPO, with further invoplvement from Deutsche Bank, UBS, Nomura, UBS, ABN Amro and Rabobank.
There had been speculation Liberty Global, owner of the second largest Dutch cable operator UPC, would mount a takeover bid for Ziggo. Insiders believe this is still an option. Just recently, Liberty Global acquired German operator Kabel BW just before a planned IPO.
As part of the IPO, the shareholders will convert loans of €2.281 billion to Ziggo into e¬quity. The operator announced a policy for at least €220 million in dividends this year and a payout of at least 50% of free cash flow from 2013.
