Telewest Takes Control Of Cable London In £428m Deal

The UK’s second-largest cable company, Telewest Communications, last night finalised a deal with rival group NTL to take control of the Cable London cable franchises. The £428 million deal sees Telewest acquire NTL’s 50% stake in Cable London; Telewest already owns the other half of the company.

NTL had set the conditions and price for the transfer of ownership of the Cable London stake and under these conditions NTL could either buy the stake or sell to Telewest. The deal gives Cable London a total enterprise value of around £1 billion. NTL, which has recently committed £8.2 billion to merger with Cable & Wireless Communications (see NTL Spends £8.2bn On Cable & Wireless Communications), was therefore happy to sell to Telewest.

Cable London operates four cable franchises in North London and has around 436,000 connected homes, with a further 400,000 homes passed. Commenting on the acquisition, Telewest’s chief executive, Tony Illsley, says: “This will significantly expand our footprint in the capital. We look forward to taking control of this strategically important franchise and exploiting its broadband potential in the residential business market.”

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Telewest Communications: 01483 750 900