ONO IPO in 2010
April 23, 2010
From David Del Valle in Madrid
ONO, Spain's dominant MSO that recently completed a major debt restructure, is now planning an IPO to raise further fresh capital. CEO Rosalia Portela said and IPO later this year might raise E700-E1 billion and the company would also look to tap the bond market for further funds.
The CEO said ONO's triple play proposition was making excellent progress in the market and it now planned to apply for a mobile operator license to put its portfolio on a par with Telefonica. The Spanish government is expected to make mobile licenses available using the spectrum freed by ASO.
ONO came close to collapse under the weight of debts accumulated via consolidating the Spanish cable sector and over optimistic forecasting on resulting growth. Earlier this month it announced it had restructured E3.5 billion of debt postponing any capital repayments until 2012.