KDG to focus on Tele Columbus acquisition, will compete with Unitymedia

German cable operator Kabel Deutschland (KDG) is not planning further acquisitions in the immediate future and will focus on integrating Tele Columbus’s networks pending a positive Cartel Office decision, according to CEO Adrian von Hammerstein.

Interviewed by newspaper Die Welt, Von Hammerstein said that KDG would not divest Tele Columbus networks in North-Rhine Westphalia and Hesse, where Liberty Global-owned Unitymedia is the dominant cable player, but would offer competition, notably by providing an alternative to the housing association market.

Von Hammerstein said that a single cable operator across Germany would make industrial sense but that he did not expect this to happen anytime soon.

A Cartel Office decision on KDG’s acquisition of Tele Columbus is expected in January.