Ziggo confirms plan to launch IPO

Dutch cable operator Ziggo has confirmed that it will launch an initial public offering on the Amsterdam stock exchange.

Ziggo plans to make a secondary sale of a portion of its ordinary shares, currently held by shareholders including affiliates of private equity players Cinven and Warburg Pincus. The ordinary shares will be sold to institutional and retail investors in the Netherlands and certain institutional investors overseas.

JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are the joint global coordinators for the IPO. Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and UBS are the joint bookrunners; ABN AMRO, HSBC, Nomura and Rabobank are the joint lead managers and ABN AMRO and Rabobank are the joint retail bookrunners. Société Générale is co-lead manager.

Ziggo is the largest Dutch operator, with 4.2 million homes passed and three million subscribers. Ziggo generated revenues of €1.48 billion, representing organic growth of 7.4%, and EBITDA of €385 million in 2011, with 71% of EBITDA converted into operating free cashflow.

Andrew Sukawaty, chairman of Ziggo said: “We are pleased to announce our intention to list Ziggo in Amsterdam. The company is fully prepared for a standalone future with full access to both the debt and equity capital markets. The IPO has always been a strategic priority and will be an important milestone for Ziggo. I believe Ziggo is ideally suited to the public equity markets, offering strong differentiation through a unique combination of both growth and returns for investors seeking high quality exposure to the European cable growth story.”

Bernard Dijkhuizen, CEO of Ziggo, said: “We have strong growth momentum, based on a fully upgraded network, high quality products and continuous customer focus. The IPO is the logical next step for Ziggo. We will become a newly listed Dutch company, with the enhanced capital markets profile to support our growth strategy, in line with our scale and status as one of Europe’s leading cable operators.”