Shareholders Give Cable Merger Thumbs Up

Shareholders in cable giants NTL and Telewest have given the companies the go ahead to merge, with a 99% vote of confidence expected to see the transaction completed today.

The move will see Telewest shareholders acquire 25% of the combined companies, while NTL shareholders will own around 75%.

NTL chairman James Mooney said yesterday: “The combination will enable us to leverage each company’s strengths to drive significant consumer and shareholder value over the long term.”

The latest green light for the merger follows January’s approval of the deal by the Office of Fair Trading (see OFT Gives Green Light To Media Mergers). In announcing its approval, the OFT ruled that the two companies’ respective local networks do not overlap in any areas except those which are already closely competitive with other providers.

The consolidation of NTL and Telewest will create a communications firm with annual revenues of around £3.3 billion, and around five million customers.

NTL: 01256 752000 www.ntl.com Telewest: 0845 142 0000 www.telewest.co.uk