News
Telecoms and cable giants are back in talks about a possible Dutch joint venture.
Vodafone on Tuesday revealed that it is holding talks with Liberty Global over a possible tie-up in the Netherlands.
The U.K.-based mobile group has a local operating unit in the Netherlands, while Liberty Global owns recently-enlarged Dutch cableco Ziggo.
"Vodafone confirms it is in discussions with Liberty Global regarding the creation of a joint venture in the Netherlands that would incorporate both companies’ local operating businesses," the telco said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.
The two companies held similar talks last year over a wider combination of assets across multiple markets, but a deal proved too difficult to broker and the discussions fell apart in September.
The firms never disclosed specifically which markets they were discussing, but the U.K., Germany and the Netherlands were the most often mentioned.
However, on Tuesday Vodafone made it clear that a broad partnership is not on the agenda at present.
"The discussions…do not extend beyond the creation of a joint venture in the Netherlands," it said.
Vodafone issued its statement following speculation by Bloomberg that talks were back on. The newswire said the firms were discussing asset swaps in multiple European markets, although that statement now appears to have been inaccurate.
Vodafone said there is no certainty that these latest discussions will result in a transaction.
