LONDON â€" On the heels of its $13.7 billion deal on Monday to buy the Dutch cable operator Ziggo, John C. Malone’s Liberty Global media company is now reported to be in talks to acquire the Spanish telecoms operator ONO, according to The Financial Times.
Liberty Global faces competition from the British cellphone giant Vodafone, which is also in early-stage takeover talks with ONO over a deal that could be worth more than $10 billion.
The battle for ONO, whose shareholders include a number of private equity firms like Providence Equity Partners, is the latest potential consolidation in Europe’s telecommunications and cable sector.
Access to Spain’s large domestic market is driving interest from both Liberty Global and Vodafone, although a deal for ONO may still fall through, because the Spanish cable operator also is mulling an initial public offering.
Both companies already have large operations in other European markets, which would make it difficult to gain antitrust approval for large deals. And ONO’s existing cable, pay-TV and cellphone operations (the company reported revenue of 1.2 billion euros, or $1.6 billion, in the first nine months of 2013, the latest figures available) could provide an enticing prospect for any large telecoms firm with an eye on European expansion.
Along with its takeover of Ziggo, Liberty Global already scooped up the British cable provider Virgin Media for $16 billion last year. Vodafone, whose shareholders on Tuesday approved the $130 billion sale of its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless, bought the German company Kabel Deutschland for around $10 billion.
