Kabel Deutschland CFO says may IPO next year
BARCELONA, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Kabel Deutschland (KDG), [KABLD.UL] Germany's biggest cable operator, may seek an initial public offering next year if market conditions are right, its finance chief said on Thursday.
"It's no secret. We are rumoured to be looking at a potential IPO in 2010. I do not know whether that will or will not happen. But we're here to introduce ourselves," Paul Thomason told an investor conference in Barcelona.
KDG's smaller rival, Unitymedia, last week announced an agreement to be acquired by Liberty Global (LBTYA.O), the international cable operator controlled by John Malone, for $3 billion in cash plus $2.2 billion in assumed debt.
Thomason told Reuters on the sidelines of the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecoms conference that KDG had not been approached by Liberty.
"I think they were a willing seller," he said of Unitymedia, who said the parties had agreed the deal within three weeks.
Unitymedia had until the last minute been planning an IPO, which would have tested the strength of the market.
Thomason added that KDG's owners had not yet decided whether an IPO was the best option. "We might just keep it and recapitalise it," he said.
KDG is 88 percent owned by Providence Equity, 8 percent by Teachers' Pension Plan and 4 percent by management.
Thomason said the company had deleveraged to 3.6 times EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) by the end of last quarter.
The Liberty Global deal valued Unitymedia -- which is owned by a shareholder group led by BC Partners [BCPRT.UL] and Apollo -- at about 7.4 times 2010 EBITDA.
On the same basis, KDG should be worth at least 4 billion euros ($6 billion).
KDG supplies analogue and digital TV, Internet broadband and fixed and mobile services. It has almost 12 million customers.
The German cable industry has been hampered by regulation, including rules that effectively ban consolidation among large players. KDG in the past had attempted to merge with Unitymedia and Kabel BW, the country's third-biggest cable operator.
Thomason said he had not noticed any softening of that view on the part of regulators.
Thomason said further small acquisitions were entirely possible but added: "Horizontal consolidation -- I think it's a bit unlikely." (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan)
