Spain: Euskaltel merger with R and Telecable?
May 22, 2015
From David Del Valle in Madrid
More concentration is set to take place in the Spanish cable market. The Basque Country-based company Euskaltel is seeking to merge with other big regional cable companies in the North of Spain, R in Galicia and Telecable in Asturias.
The three companies lead the market in their regions with combined revenues of €700 million and EBITDA at €300 million. And all are owned by venture capital companies with interest in selling: Euskaltel, is owned by Trilantic and Investindustrial; Telecable by US Carlyle with 85 per cent and R by CVC with 70 per cent.
Combined, the three companies reach around 340,000 subscribers, with Euskaltel having over 110,000, R around 100,000 and Telecable around 130,000.
The merger proposal is part of the strategy of Euskaltel following its IPO due at the end of June with a value of between €1- and 1.5bn.
If the merger took place, it would be the third concentration of the market in a short period with Vodafone-ONO and Orange-Jazztel.