Liberty Global is one of several companies expected to make a first-round bid next week for Multimedia Polska, Poland’s second largest cable operator.
According to agency and local reports, the other bidders are likely to include Permira, EQT and Mid Europa Partners (MEP), with the eventual sale price being up to €700 million.
Liberty Global already controls around 30% of the Polish cable market through UPC Polska and Aster, which it acquired from MEP last year and is currently integrating into its main operation.
Earlier this year Multimedia Polska issued a statement saying that it had chosen JP Morgan to act as an advisor in a strategic review of all the options available to it.
Since then it has continued to grow, taking over the second spot in the Polish cable market from Vectra after acquiring Stream Communications and – as recently as last month – issuing five-year bonds with a total value of PLN250 million (€59.4 million).
As of this May, Multimedia Polska, which is currently controlled by groups owned by the entrepreneurs Tomasz Ulatowski and Ygal Ozechov, claimed to pass 1.4 million households and have subscriber and RGU totals of 830,000 and around 1.67 million respectively.
The company’s net debt stood at around PLN970 million as of last month.
