Vodafone sells its Dutch phone stake, Ziggo heading for an IPO
British telecoms company Vodafone is selling its 50% stake in Dutch unit VodafoneZiggo to its US alliance partner Liberty Global in a €1 billion cash deal, the company said on Wednesday.
Liberty Global will transfer its assets in the Benelux (VodafoneZiggo and Belgium’s Telenet) to a new holding company, Ziggo Group in which Vodafone will have a 10% stake.
Liberty Global then intends to list the new company on the Amsterdam stock exchange in 2027 by spinning off 90% of the shares to Liberty Global shareholders.
The transaction “provides additional stability and long-term commitment to VodafoneZiggo”, company chief executive Stephen van Rooyen said.
“By combining these assets, we are creating a regional powerhouse comprised of two converged national champions operating in rational markets,” LibertyGlobal chairman Mike Vries said in a press statement.
The VodafoneZiggo alliance was formed in 2016. It now has some 5.6 mobile customers and three million internet subscribers.
Last year the company shed 400 jobs in a reorganisation after losing more than 40,000 customers in the first quarter of the year, news website Nu.nl reported.
Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.
We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.
Make a donation