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Published: January 30 2011-Malone’s Liberty Global in race for KBW
By Martin Arnold and Salamander Davoudi in London

Last updated: January 31 2011 16:21
John Malone’s Liberty Global, rival cable group Kabel Deutschland and a number of private equity groups have emerged as bidders in the €2.5bn-€3bn ($3.4bn-$4.1bn) auction of Kabel Baden-Württemberg, Germany’s third-largest cable operator.
KBW’s managers are due to give presentations about the business to suitors this week.

Initial bids for the company, which provides television, telephone and internet services to 2.3m customers in the southwestern German region, are due on February 16.

The sale of KBW by EQT, the private equity arm of Sweden’s Wallenberg family, could trigger consolidation of Germany’s cable industry. But the Swedish buy-out group is also considering an initial public offering of KBW if offers fall below its asking price.

Both Liberty Global and Kabel Deutschland could face difficulties with competition authorities, which may oppose any reduction in German cable operators from three to two, even though they operate in separate regions.
In addition, the sector has been a fertile hunting ground for private equity in recent years. Several big UK and US buy-out groups, including Apax Partners, CVC Capital Partners and Hellman & Friedman are weighing bids for KBW.
Liberty Global bought Germany’s Unitymedia for €3.5bn in 2009 and Mr Malone’s Nasdaq-listed group is now seeking to bulk up by buying KBW.

All parties declined to ­comment.
Mr Malone has built up a broad range of media assets, including DirecTV and the Discovery Channel.
He was frustrated in an earlier attempt to enter the German cable market, after Liberty Global’s €5.5bn offer to purchase the entire cable operations of Deutsche Telekom was vetoed in 2002 by the federal cartel authorities.

JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank are advising EQT on a sale or IPO of KBW.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e030acb4-2ca2-11e0-83bd-00144feab49a.html#axzz1CsJAfnHw