Vodafone has struck an €18.4bn (£16bn) deal to buy Liberty Global’s cable TV and broadband businesses in Germany and eastern Europe. The sale will leave John Malone, who controls Liberty Global through voting shares, with almost €11bn in cash to inject into its remaining businesses. The deal could spark speculation that he may once again consider buying ITV, in which Liberty Global has a 9.9% stake. “Germany, for example, is dominated by one provider that controls over half the broadband market. Even together, Liberty Global and Vodafone, whose cable networks do not compete or overlap, will be half the size of the incumbent operator.

Source: The Guardian May 09, 2018 09:46 UTC