Vodafone in talks to acquire Spain's cable operator Grupo Corporativo ONO
27 Jan 2014
Vodafone Group Plc is in talks to acquire Spain's cable operator Grupo Corporativo ONO SA, Bloomberg today reported, citing two people familiar with the negotiation.
The move comes as that Spanish cable operator prepares for an initial public offering and was planning to hire Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase & Co in the coming weeks.
Talks are taking place with ONO's owners and a deal may be announced in the next few weeks, the report said.
Madrid-based Grupo Corporativo ONO is owned owned by private equity firms Providence Equity Partners, Thomas H. Lee Partners, Quadrangle Capital Partners and JPMorgan Partners.
ONO provides fixed line telephones, broadband and pay TV, and mobile telecom services.
It has more than 4.7 million fixed and mobile services clients, which include 1.8 million residential customers and 105,000 small and medium enterprises.
The company generated revenues of €1.57 billion and net profit of €52 million in 2012. It has a market value of around €6.4 billion ($8.7 billion) including debt of €3.3 billion.
According to Bloomberg, the potential acquisition is part of Vodafone's plan to expand into services such as high-speed Internet and television across Europe.
Vodafone would be flush with funds by the end of next month when it completes the sale of its 45 per cent stake in the Verizon Wireless joint venture to US telecom giant Verizon Communications for a massive $130 billion.