Liberty Global has returned to Ziggo with another offer to buy out the rest of the Dutch cable company. Ziggo rejected a bid from Liberty Global in October for being too low.
Liberty Global already owns 28.5 percent of Ziggo. It also owns the country second largest cable company, UPC Nederland.
Ziggo released a statement acknowledging that Liberty Global has resumed its attempts to gain a larger holding in the company, if not buy it outright. “Ziggo notes the recent market speculation and announces, further to its statement of October 16, 2013, that it is currently in discussions with Liberty Global regarding a potential offer for the company by Liberty Global.
“Further announcements will be made if and when relevant. There is no certainty that any agreement can be reached or that any offer will ultimately be made.”
Ziggo has been one of the leaders of the trend toward cloud-based delivery of services, working closely with ActiveVideo on user interfaces, and moving toward a model of cable delivery that does not include set-top boxes.
Liberty Global earlier this year acquired Virgin Media for $16 billion. The operation is led by John Malone, who also chairs Liberty Media, which bought a 27 percent stake in Charter Communications.
Just as Malone is attempting to consolidate cable holdings in the Netherlands, he is pushing for further consolidation of MSOs in the U.S. market, compelling several of the largest American cable companies (Charter, Cox, Comcast, Cablevision, Time Warner Cable) to engage in a complex set of maneuvers that may or may not end up with TWC, Cablevision, or both, being purchased.
