A merger of the cable firms Telewest and NTL will not take place for at least another year, according to a report in today’s Guardian.
The newspaper claims that bondholders want both management teams to achieve operational targets before they provide more funds and support amalgamation.
This will come as a surprise to many industry observers who believed that the two companies would look to join forces as soon as possible. A merger is regarded as the only way that Telewest and NTL can hope to rival BSkyB in the pay-TV market and compete with BT in offering high-speed internet packages.
Both cable groups were forced to restructure finances after running up huge debts making acquisitions and developing an underground infrastructure. NTL recently completed its refinancing and emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection while Telewest is believed to be a matter of months away from completing its own debt for equity swap.
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