Hengeler Mueller advises EQT on sale of Kabel BW to Liberty Global

23. March 2011

On 21 March 2011, EQT announced the sale of the Kabel Baden-Württemberg Group to Liberty Global, Inc. Kabel BW, based in Heidelberg (Germany), is one of the largest cable network operators in Germany and Europe, with some 2.4 million customers. For the envisaged recapitalisation in connection with the sale, KBW Group is targeting to issue high yield bonds in the amount of approximately EUR 2.25 bn. As with the sale of the Takko Group, on which Hengeler Mueller also advised, consideration was given to the possibility of an IPO parallel to the sale of the Kabel BW Group (dual track proceedings).

Hengeler Mueller has been advising EQT together with the partner law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (Philip J. Boeckman) in connection with both the sale and high yield bond issuance as well as the proposed IPO. The team advising on the sale and the bond issuance was led by partners Hans-Jörg Ziegenhain, Steffen Oppenländer (both M&A, Munich), Maximilian Schiessl (M&A, Düsseldorf) and Alexander G. Rang (Banking & Finance, Frankfurt), and also included partners Christian Möller (Corporate, Düsseldorf), Alf-Henrik Bischke (Antitrust, Brussels), Christian Hoefs (Labour, Frankfurt) and Martin Klein (Tax, Frankfurt) as well as associates Ingo Strauß, Maximilian Brosinger, Carolin Stumm (all M&A, Munich), Michael Breyer (Banking & Finance, Frankfurt), Nicole Hasselmann (Telecommunications/Media, Berlin) and Peter Wehner (Labour, Frankfurt).

The team advising on the proposed IPO was led by partner Torsten Busch (Capital Markets, Frankfurt) and also included partners Sven H. Schneider (Capital Markets, Frankfurt), Hans-Joachim Liebers (Labour, Frankfurt), John Flüh and Stefan Richter (both Corporate, Berlin) as well as associates Tim Schlösser (Capital Markets, Frankfurt), Nicole Hasselmann (Regulatory, Berlin), Moritz Gröning (Corporate, Berlin) and Nikolaus Hofstetter (Capital Markets, Frankfurt).