Liberty to Buy Base from KPN for

Nigel Thomas
20 Apr, 2015
New York City

Germany led the advance in European markets after a week of losses.Telenet, subsidiary of Liberty Global agreed to acquire Base from KPN for

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – Germany led the advance in European markets after a week of losses.Telenet, subsidiary of Liberty Global agreed to acquire Base from KPN for €1.33 billion. Nomad agreed to acquire Iglo Foods for €2.6 billion from Permira funds.[/R]

European markets traded higher in the shadow of Greek debt standoff and an unexpected stimulus in China.

Market indexes in Europe rebounded after a week of losses and benchmark index in Germany led the gainers in the region.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index gained 0.8% or 52.85 to 7,047.48 and in Frankfurt the DAX index climbed 1.7% or 201.48 to 11,890.18.

In Paris, CAC 40 index jumped 0.7% or 36.43 to 5,179.69.

AVEVA Group slipped 1.4% to 1,577 pence after the U.K.-based engineering software services provider forecasted its results for the fiscal 2014 ending March to be “in-line with market expectations” and said the report will """"positively reflect the resilience of the underlying business model.""""

Liberty Global Plc, the U.K.-based privately held cable TV network operator said its Belgium-based subsidiary Telenet Group Holding NV agreed to acquire Base Co NV from KPN Group for about €1.33 billion in cash.

Liberty said Telenet will invest €240 million to upgrade Base''s network and estimated annual savings of about €150 million.

Telenet intends to finance the acquisition of BASE through a combination of €1 billion of new debt facilities and existing liquidity.

Nomad Holdings Ltd gained 1.4% to $12.05 after the U.K.-based company agreed to acquire frozen food maker, Iglo Foods Holdings Limited, backed by Permira funds for approximately €2.6 billion.

The transaction is expected to close by June-end.

Petrofac Limited tumbled 10% to 912 pence after the oil and gas producer recognized additional pre-tax loss in fiscal 2015 of about $195 million for the Laggan-Tormore gas plant project on Shetland in the U.K.

The company had booked $230 million loss on the project in 2014.