Vodafone is exploring a combination with John Malone’s Liberty Global that would create Europe’s largest phone, Internet and TV company, worth more than $130 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The British phone company is holding internal deliberations and analyzing financial and regulatory hurdles as well as investor support for a share-based transaction, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. No formal negotiations are underway.
In particular, Vodafone has concerns about the combined company’s debt levels and the reaction of its own investors to a deal, one of the people said. Cable operator Liberty Global’s shares climbed 7.4 percent to $51.99 Friday in New York. Vodafone shares closed up 2.9 percent in London.
Liberty co-chief financial officer Charles Bracken said this month that regulators would probably give their permission if Vodafone tried to buy its German business.
