Kabel Deutschland (KDG) is acquiring cable operator Tele Columbus according to the Financial Times Deutschland.
No financial details have emerged, but insiders value the operator at between 600 and 800 million euros.
The deal will be subject to approval from the German cartel office, the Bundeskartellamt. Should the deal close, then KDG has successfully outbid its rivals Deutsche Telekom and Liberty Global, who both are believed to be interested in buying Tele Columbus.However, the Kartellambt so far has not confirmed that the deal was submitted for approval casting some doubt if the deal was indeed made.
Apart from Tele Columbus, ther other relatively large independent operator is Primacom, which is also up for sale.
Consolidation is now starting to happen in Germany. However, there are still dozens and dozens of small to medium sized private operators scattered across the country and these are the ones that usually have the relation with the actual customers (level 4).
Buying up these small operations would make sense for the incumbent cablers as in many cases they just have the level 3 infrastructure.
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