Eric Tveter, outgoing CEO of Switzerland’s largest cable operator UPC, is in favour of merging his company with another market player.
“In the Swiss market with four full-service providers, consolidation would make sense,” Tveter told Swiss business magazine Bilanz. “We believe that we are well equipped for an independent future, but we are looking at strategic options.”
For months there have been rumours about a possible takeover of the smaller players Salt or Sunrise by UPC in order to gain more strength in the competition with incumbent operator Swisscom.
Sufficient capital would be available: UPC parent company Liberty Global recently sold its Austrian subsidiary UPC Austria to T-Mobile Austria and announced the sale of its business activities in other European countries, including Unitymedia in Germany, to Vodafone.
On September 1, 2018, after nine years at the helm of UPC, Tveter will hand over the CEO position to Severina Pascu, formerly Chief Operating Officer. Tveter will continue to be responsible for the CEE business as CEO and, as chairman of UPC Switzerland, he will head strategic planning and stakeholder management.
