Liberty to Shed Telecom In Switzerland in Pullback -- WSJ
February 28 2019 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Micah Maidenberg
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (February 28, 2019).
Cable tycoon John Malone is cashing out of Switzerland.
Mr. Malone's Liberty Global PLC, a holding company for European
cable assets, said Wednesday that it will sell its Swiss unit, UPC
Switzerland, to Sunrise Communications Group AG in a deal with an
enterprise value of about $6.3 billion.
Liberty said it would receive roughly $2.6 billion in cash from
Sunrise, a Swiss telecommunications firm. Sunrise will also take on
UPC's debt, which totaled about $3.7 billion at the end of
2018.
Mr. Malone, who is chairman of Liberty, has been looking to exit
some of his telecom investments in Europe. Last May, Liberty
announced the sale of its networks in Germany and parts of Eastern
Europe. In December 2017, the company said it would sell its
Austrian business.
Liberty Chief Executive Mike Fries said in prepared remarks that
the company bought UPC's predecessor in 2005, investing $1.6
billion. Including dividends and equity proceeds, Liberty will have
nearly quadrupled its capital invested in Switzerland, he said.
UPC's operation in Switzerland covers 2.3 million homes and
provides video, broadband or voice services to 1.1 million
customers, Liberty said.
"The combined company will have the scale to drive innovation,
invest in new services and pursue growth by providing innovative
and competitively priced offers," Sunrise said.
The deal is expected to be completed before the end of the
year.
Mr. Malone is known as a pioneer in the cable industry and a
deal maker. Another one of his holding companies owns a significant
stake in Charter Communications Inc., and Mr. Malone himself has
invested in Discovery Inc., which owns cable channels.
Together, UPC and Zurich-based Sunrise would have recorded about
$3.17 billion in revenue and earnings before interest, taxes and
other costs of $1.33 billion in 2018.
Separately, Denver-based Liberty reported revenue from
continuing operations grew 1.2% to $2.95 billion in the fourth
quarter. Operating income rose 73% to $252.2 million.
Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 28, 2019 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)
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