Liberty Global Raises Stake in Ziggo

By Robin van Daalen

AMSTERDAM--Cable company Liberty Global Inc. (LBTYA) raised its stake in Ziggo NV (ZIGGO.AE), fueling speculation about a possible takeover of the Dutch cable operator.

Liberty Global, which already owned 12.65% of Ziggo, raised its stake to 15%, according to a filing with the Dutch stock market regulator AFM on Tuesday. The announcement comes after Cinven and Warburg Pincus sold their remaining 17% stake in Ziggo for 25.75 euros ($33.54) a share.

It acquired its initial stake for EUR632.5 million from Barclays Capital Securities Ltd., which failed to find sufficient interest from buyers when it tried to place a 20% stake in the company on behalf of Warburg Pincus LLC and Cinven Ltd.

While Liberty Global is based in Englewood, Colo., it focuses on markets outside the U.S. and has broadband networks in 13 countries, mainly in Europe. It has been expanding its presence in Europe lately. In January it raised its stake in Telenet Group Holding NV to around 58% after a tender offer to take full control of the Belgian cable operator failed, while a month later it agreed to acquire U.K. cable-television and Internet provider Virgin Media Inc. in February for $16 billion.

Liberty Global bought German cable provider Kabel Baden-Wuerttemberg for roughly $4.5 billion in 2011 and owns KBW's larger rival, Unitymedia.

Liberty Global already enjoys a sizable presence in the Dutch market through UPC, a domestic rival of Ziggo. However, Ziggo and UPC don't compete directly with each other, but serve different regions within The Netherlands and compete with other internet, television and telecom service providers like Royal KPN NV (KPN.AE).

In 2012, Ziggo recorded annual revenue of EUR1.54 billion, up 4.0% from a year earlier. Ziggo was listed in Amsterdam early 2012 after private equity firms merged three local Dutch cable operators in 2007.

-Lily Vitorovich in London contributed to this article.

Write to Robin van Daalen at [e-mail] and [e-mail]

-0-

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires