Liberty Global and Vodafone are struggling to reach an asset swap deal of any description.
As previously reported in Broadband TV News, the possibility of such a deal was first raised by Vodafone in June, when the company confirmed it was in the early stages of talks with Liberty Global. At that time, it dismissed an out and out merger between the two groups.
Now, speaking to Bloomberg, Liberty’s chairman John Malone said: “Conceptually there could be some real value created but realistically we haven’t been able to figure out a way to do that that’s mutually successful.
“That doesn’t mean that we won’t find a solution, nor does it imply that we will”.
Malone likened the discussions between the two companies to a tennis match of ideas. However, there was as yet no proposed structure for a deal that could be proposed to their shareholders.
He continued: “Obviously there’s a price at which Liberty Global could be bought.
“I don’t believe that that’s likely for the other side to get there — an outright purchase of the whole company. Other than that, it’s a question of could you figure out some way to live together.”
Although Malone confirmed that Liberty has identified Germany, the UK and Netherlands as markets for expansion, certainly in the case of Germany any deal between the two groups would raise competition concerns. Indeed, Deutsche Telekom has said it would oppose a deal.
While there are obvious synergies between the two groups, there are also fundamental “philosophical” differences, according to Malone. These include Vodafone paying dividends, something Liberty doesn’t do.
Bloomberg says that no deadline for the talks has been set.
