Cinven, Warburg Pincus Sell 20% Ziggo Stake for $1.3 Billion
Ziggo NV (ZIGGO)’s main shareholders, including Warburg Pincus LLC and Cinven Ltd., are selling a 20 percent stake in the Dutch cable-television operator.
The shareholders are selling about 40 million shares, Utrecht, Netherlands-based Ziggo said in a statement. Warburg and Cinven are selling them at 25.05 euros per share, terms of the offer show, valuing the sale at 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion).
Shares of Ziggo fell as much as 4.4 percent in Amsterdam today, the biggest intraday decline since February.
Issuers in Europe have raised $19.3 billion selling additional stakes in companies this year, 30 percent more than they did in the same period in 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. After the sale, Cinven, Warburg Pincus and co- investors will own a 17.1 percent stake in Ziggo, which listed in March last year.
Ziggo, with a market value of about 5 billion euros, didn’t take part in an auction for wireless spectrum for high-speed mobile-phone services in December. Royal KPN NV (KPN), Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom (DTE) AG’s T-Mobile unit and Tele 2 AB paid 3.8 billion euros in total.
Deutsche Telekom Chief Executive Officer Rene Obermann will step down from his current post at the end of the year to replace Ziggo CEO Bernard Dijkhuizen, who is retiring, the Dutch company said March 7.
The sale by Ziggo’s main shareholders indicates a buyout bid for the company is unlikely in the short term, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts said in a note to clients yesterday.
“Private equity is likely to have spoken to potential interested parties before selling on market in the hope of realizing a strategic premium,” analysts Daniel Kerven and Bianca Dallal said.
Barclays Plc managed the share sale, two people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News.
Ziggo shares were down 4.04 percent at 24.81 euros at 11:05 a.m. in Amsterdam.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ruth David in London at rdavid9@bloomberg.net Fred Pals in Amsterdam at fpals@bloomberg.net; Francesca Cinelli in Milan at fcinelli@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at kwong11@bloomberg.net
Cinven, Warburg Pincus to Sell 20% Ziggo Stake for $1.3 Billion
Jock Fistick/Bloomberg
A pedestrian passes a Ziggo NV store in Utrecht, Netherlands.
A pedestrian passes a Ziggo NV store in Utrecht, Netherlands. Photographer: Jock Fistick/Bloomberg
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