Liberty Global said to have approached Vodafone for Dutch JV stake

(Sharecast News) - Liberty Global has reportedly approached Vodafone for a potential acquisition of its stake in their Dutch joint venture VodafoneZiggo. Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter as saying that Liberty Global has expressed interest in a deal and held on-and-off talks with Vodafone in recent months. Any transaction may value Vodafone's stake at more than €2bn ($2.2 billion).

It was unclear if Vodafone is willing to sell, and there's no certainty the discussions will lead to an agreement, sources told Bloomberg. If successful, Liberty Global could later possibly merge the Dutch fixed and mobile operator with its Belgian cable company, Telenet, to create a large Benelux operator.

Liberty Global and Vodafone created fixed and mobile operator VodafoneZiggo as a joint venture in 2016 with both companies holding 50% stakes.