Vodafone confirms that it is in early stage discussions with Liberty Global regarding the potential acquisition of certain overlapping continental European assets owned by Liberty Global
Vodafone said on Friday it was in talks with John Malone’s Liberty Global about buying some of the cable company’s assets in the continental European countries where they both operate, chief among them being Germany. It said it was not in discussion with Liberty Global regarding a merger of the two firms.
“Vodafone confirms that it is in early stage discussions with Liberty Global regarding the potential acquisition of certain overlapping continental European assets owned by Liberty Global,” the company said.
The Financial Times earlier on Friday said the two were in talks about swapping assets in Europe. Shares in Vodafone closed up 2.4 percent at 219.5 pence a share. Liberty Global rose to more than two-years highs in new York and was up 2.9 percent at $38.28 in afternoon trading. Liberty Global noted Vodafone’s statement and had no further comment, a spokesman said.
The world’s second biggest mobile operator and the cable company discussed swapping assets in 2015, but they could not reach agreement on values. The two, however, did agree the following year to form a joint venture in the Netherlands, VodafoneZiggo, bringing together mobile, broadband and TV services in a package designed to compete more effectively with former state monopoly KPN.