(Reuters) -Liberty Global has approached Britain’s Vodafone over a possible acquisition of its stake in their Dutch joint venture VodafoneZiggo, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Vodafone, VodafoneZiggo and Liberty Global declined to comment on the report. Liberty Global has expressed an interest in a deal and held on-and-off talks […]
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Liberty Global eyes Vodafone’s Dutch joint venture stake, Bloomberg News reports
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(Reuters) -Liberty Global has approached Britain’s Vodafone over a possible acquisition of its stake in their Dutch joint venture VodafoneZiggo, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Vodafone, VodafoneZiggo and Liberty Global declined to comment on the report.
Liberty Global has expressed an interest in a deal and held on-and-off talks with Vodafone in recent months, the report said, adding that any transaction may value Vodafone’s stake at more than 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion).
VodafoneZiggo, the 50:50 joint venture created in 2016, provides fixed, mobile, and integrated communication and entertainment services across the Netherlands.
Liberty Global is the third largest shareholder in Vodafone after the UAE’s Emirates Investment Authority and American investment group BlackRock.
Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries stated at a conference last year that while the VodafoneZiggo joint venture performed well, seven years was a long duration for such a partnership, prompting the need to evaluate its future direction.
($1 = 0.9168 euros)
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka, Prerna Bedi and Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru, and Anousha Sakoui in London; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Mark Potter)