Apollo, BC Partners Selling Unitymedia for $5.2 Billion
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Liberty Global (LBTYA.O), the international cable operator controlled by U.S. cable pioneer John Malone, has agreed to buy Germany's Unitymedia from a private equity group for $5.2 billion, its first German buy. The sale by a shareholder group led by BC Partners and Apollo comprises $3 billion in equity and $2.2 billion in debt, and is the largest private-equity exit in Europe this year. The private-equity group bought Unitymedia for 1.5 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in 2003. Unitymedia is Germany's second-biggest cable network after Kabel Deutschland, with 4.5 million subscribers in a region covering 10 of the country's 20 biggest cities, including Cologne, Duesseldorf and Frankfurt.
13 November 2009•2 mins read
