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Liberty's Unitymedia reaches deal in KabelBW antitrust case

Reuters - UK Focus

FRANKFURT, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Liberty Global (NasdaqGS: LBTYA - news) 's German unit has reached an agreement with two companies who objected its 3 billion euro ($3.43 billion) purchase of cable provider KabelBW, the company said in a statement on Friday.

A regional court in Duesseldorf in 2013 ruled that the cartel office must re-examine the case to either block it or force the firms to offer more concessions to protect competition in the cable television market.

The ruling ultimately could have lead to the unwinding of a merger that bolstered Germany's second-largest cable operator Unitymedia, owned by Liberty Global, in 2012.

Germany's biggest telecoms group Deutsche Telekom (LSE: 0MPH.L - news) and local cable operator NetCologne had challenged the approval. Deutsche Telekom has been hard hit by the success of Unitymedia KabelBW and Kabel Deutschland (LSE: 0MPU.L - news) , which is now part of Vodafone.

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Both cable companies have snatched customers from established telecoms players such as Deutsche Telekom, with their upgraded networks offering home and office Internet at speeds that are often five times faster.

Unitymedia said on Friday that two companies have withdrawn their objections against the deal and that the agreement was approved by the German competition watchdog. Unitymedia did not give any details about the agreement.

The cartel office had approved the acquisition at the end of 2011 only after imposing far-reaching remedies because Liberty already owned Germany's second-largest cable operator UnityMedia, which then absorbed KabelBW.

Sources told Reuters last year that pressure from competition regulators could prompt Liberty Global to abandon Germany if it can no longer pursue its growth ambitions in Europe's biggest cable market. ($1 = 0.8748 euros) (Reporting by Harro ten Wolde; editing by Thomas Atkins)