Cinven and Warburg Pincus aiming to exit Ziggo

Private equity groups Cinven and Warburg Pincus are planning their exit from the Netherlands’ largest cable operator Ziggo with a fresh offering of 27 million shares via an ‘accelerated bookbuild’ offering, and a potential upsizing to sell a further 7.2 million shares that would see the investors sell their entire holding in the cable operator.

Currently, Cinven, Warburg Pincus and their co-investors hold approximately 34 million shares in the company, representing about 17% of Ziggo’s ordinary share capital.

Liberty Global, owner of second largest Dutch cabler UPC Netherlands, recently acquired a 12.65% stake in Ziggo from Barclays Capital Securities after the latter saw itself temporarily become a shareholder in the operator.

Barclays had underwritten an offering of 40 million shares by Cinven and Warburg Pincus, the equivalent of a 20% stake, but failed to find enough buyers.