KDG confirms Tele Columbus acquisition

German cable operator Kabel Deutschland (KDG) has confirmed the acquisition of Tele Columbus.

Under the terms of a deal signed today, KDG will pay €603 million, plus accrued interest, for Germany’s largest level 4 cable operator, clearing its debt in the process.

Tele Columbus provides basic cable services to approximately 1.7 million homes in Berlin and eastern Germany, overlapping most of KDG’s footprint. In the fiscal year 2011 Tele Columbus reported revenues of €218 million and EBITDA of €81 million.

KDG said the transaction resolves to a large extent the separation of cable network levels, as is already the case in the footprints of Unitymedia in North Rhine-Westfalia and Hesse and of Kabel BW in Baden-Wuerttemberg.

“We are very pleased with this agreement. Our proposed merger with Kabel Deutschland is another step towards overcoming the inefficiencies of different power levels of the German cable network infrastructure,” said Ronny Verhelst, CEO of Tele Columbus Group. “It will allow us to improve broadband penetration significantly and provide new and better products.”