German Hedge Fund-Backed Tele Columbus Plans to Raise €300M over IPO
Tele Columbus, a German hedge fund-backed cable company, is planning to raise the amount of €300 million or $360 million over its initial public offering in the first half of 2015.
Berlin-based
Tele Columbus, Germany's third-largest cable TV operator, is looking to
raise at least $362 million (€300 million) in its IPO, which will
include new shares as well as stock from existing owners through a
holding company. The estimate does not include a potential 10 percent
additional new shares, which Tele Columbus can issue as part of an
option it has.
The
company plans to use the bulk of proceeds from the IPO to pay off
existing debt and provide "more financial flexibility" as Tele Columbus
aims to expand its footprint. Currently, the company serves around 1.7
million homes, most of them in Eastern Germany.
Tele
Columbus is under pressure from rivals, including John Malone's Liberty
Global and mobile carrier Vodafone, which are aggressively expanding in
Germany in a bid to link up fixed-line and mobile networks. Tele
Columbus had tried to sell itself off to Kabel Deutschland, Germany's
leading cable group, but the deal was blocked in 2013 by German
regulators.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
