Digitaltveurope.com

Spanish Basque Country cable operator Euskaltel has closed the acquisition of R Cable, the regional operator in Galicia, following a capital increase of €255 million, its ultimate step in financing the purchase.

Euskaltel has acquired R for a total of €1.19 billion, including debt. The Basque operator extended its lines of credit with its banks by €600 million and raised a further €300 million in institutional debt.

The deal creates an operator that can reach a potential market of over five million people, both operators combined have 715,000 residential and business customers, with revenues of €570 million and EBITDA of €265 million.

Euskaltel said the new group would maintain the distinct local identity of both parts of its operation, continu9ing to provide services under the existing brands and using local teams.

The company said that the integration of Euskaltel and R would generate important synergies at the network level and through improved negotiating power over products, services and content as well as integration of technologies.