Kabel ripe for the taking

The takeover of the German cable TV company, Kabel Deutschland, could mean a big pay out for the current owners, Providence Equity Partners, a company that is headed up by the former CEO of BSkyB, Tony Ball.

It seems that Kabel is nearing the launch of an Initial Public Offering (IPO) and has attracted the interest of private equity firms such as Advent, Apollo, BC Partners, Carlyle and CVC Capital Partners, which are all currently sorting out their finances before making an offer for the cable firm.

Providence acquired ninety five per cent of the shares from Apex Partners and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners,

The remaining five per cent of the shares are held by the management of the company.

Kabel Deutschland provides cable television, broadband and phone services to around nine million German homes.