Trend of infrastructure sharing by mobile operators
13 February 2023
24 March 2023
Liberty Global Belgium, a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Global, has announced its intention to make a conditional and voluntary public takeover bid to buy out the minority shareholders of Telenet Group. Liberty Global has held a controlling stake in Telenet since February 2007 and currently owns just over 59% of the company.
Liberty Global, a major player in converged broadband, video and mobile communications services, boasts a number of consumer brands including Virgin Media-O2 in the UK, VodafoneZiggo in the Netherlands, Telenet in Belgium, Sunrise in Switzerland, Virgin Media in Ireland and UPC in Slovakia. Through its global investment firm, Liberty Global Ventures, the company has invested in a diverse range of more than 75 companies and funds in the content, technology and infrastructure sectors.
Telenet, Belgium's leading provider of entertainment and telecommunications services, offers a range of digital TV, high-speed internet, fixed and mobile telephony services to residential customers in Flanders and Brussels. In addition, its Telenet Business division provides connectivity, hosting and security solutions for the corporate market in Belgium and Luxembourg. Telenet boasts more than 3,000 employees.
The proposed offer of €22 per share is made in cash, representing a significant premium of 59% to Telenet's closing share price on 15 March 2023.
"Following February's purchase of a 4.92% stake in Vodafone Group, this is Liberty Global's next activity in the TMT market this year."
-Jan Kudlak, TMT Deloitte Leader