Aggressive banks push Kabel Deutschland debt to 70%

Amidst the lenders backing the transaction are Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, UBS, JP Morgan, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale. The deal sees many private equity heavyweights compete for the asset. The Carlyle Group, BC Partners and Advent International have teamed up in a bid for the cable networks operator, which is owned by Providence Equity Partners. Teachers Pension Plan and the management hold minority stakes. Other firms believed to have an interest in the company include CVC Capital Partners, with Apax Partners reportedly having walked away at an earlier stage.

Apax, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Providence Equity Partners jointly acquired Kabel Deutschland in March 2003 as a carve-out from Deutsche Telekom AG. After this transaction, Providence held a 31.7% stake in KDG, which developed from being a traditional analog cable TV provider to offering cable services including pay-TV, broadband internet and telephony ('triple play').

Providence Equity Partners then acquired a majority stake in Kabel Deutschland after buying out the combined 63.4% share held by Apax Partners and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners since March 2003 when the three financial investors acquired a majority share in the company (March 2003, page 20). The deal valued Kabel Deutschland at EUR 3.2bn and took the stake held by Providence to 95%, with the management retaining a 5% share in the company. The two exiting financial investors were believed to have received EUR 250m each in preliminary proceeds from the sale.

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• Topics
• DACH
• Buyouts
• Germany
• Apax Partners
• Advent International
• Secondary buyout
• BC Partners
• Carlyle Group
• CVC Capital Partners