Zegona Communications €640 million acquisition of Telecable

Overview:

• Zegona Communications has acquired the Spanish cable operator Telecable from Carlyle Group and Liberbank for €640 million.
• Zegona Communications was set up by the former Virgin Media executives Eamonn O'Hare and Robert Samuelson, and the acquisition was funded with a combination of £251 million ($390 million) new equity, backed by institutional investors, funds from Zegona's recent float and a senior secured debt facility arranged by Goldman Sachs.
• It was the first time in Spain that the purchaser—in this case Zegona—was a special purchase acquisition company (SPAC) established to acquire and operate businesses in the European TMT sector and admitted to listing in the AIM London Stock Market, were required to raise equity through the market by the issuance and placing into admission of new shares.
• Telecable, founded in 1995, has over 162,000 residential and corporate clients and provides television, landline, mobile-phone and broadband services. The deal puts the newly-listed company at the centre of a wider consolidation move in the Spanish cable sector.

Adam Majeed - Regional editor