TMCnet News
Tele Columbus set for IPO by year-end [TeleGeography CommsUpdate](TeleGeography CommsUpdate Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Tele Columbus, Germany's third largest cable operator by subscribers, has said it will proceed with plans for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange by the end of the year, Reuters reports. The company plans to raise at least EUR300 million (USD380.6 million) and will use the proceeds from the new shares for a comprehensive refinancing of its debt, giving it more scope to invest for future growth. Goldman Sachs International and JP Morgan are acting as joint global coordinators, with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Berenberg as joint bookrunners. *TeleGeography's GlobalComms Database notes that in 2009 Tele Columbus was sold to its creditors, including York Capital, Alcentra, GoldenTree Asset Management and the Bank of Ireland, as part of a financial restructuring. In February 2013 a move by Kabel Deutschland to acquire the cableco for EUR618 million was blocked by the Federal Cartel Office. Tele Columbus provides cable TV, broadband internet access and voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) telephony services to around 1.7 million connected households in Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, as well as a number of focus areas in western Germany. (c) 2014 PriMetrica, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |