Liberty Global’s CEO Mike Fries reportedly said it was “inevitable” that there would be discussions about the future of VodafoneZiggo
Liberty Global has reportedly approached Vodafone Group about buying its share of their Dutch joint venture VodafoneZiggo, which was approved in December 2016. According to Bloomberg, talks have been ongoing for the last few months, with Vodafone’s stake valued at more than €2 billion.
As a number of sources have pointed out, Liberty Global’s CEO, said that disussions about the future of the JV were “inevitable” at Goldman Sachs’ European Communicopia Conference last September. He acknowledged that the JV was performing well but claimed seven years is a long time for such an arrangement to run.
VodafoneZiggo, the 50:50 joint venture, offers fixed, mobile, integrated communication and entertainment services. According to MarketScreener, Liberty Global is the second largest shareholder in Vodafone with a stake of 5.325%, behind UAE’s Emirates Investment Authority which owns 15.73%.
