Euskaltel shareholders approve Telecable acquisition

Spanish regional cable operator Euskaltel’s annual shareholders meeting has approved the company’s acquisition of Asturias operator Telecable, owned by the UK’s Zegona Communications.

The acquisition means that Euskaltel, which operates in the Basque Country and, through its subsidiary R, Galicia, will now have an addressable market of six million people, and will provide 2.4 million services to a current base of 800,000 customers.

The combined company has revenues of €711 million, up 24% on Euskaltel’s numbers, EBITDA of €346 million, up 23%, and cash-flow of €224 million, an incrase of 21%.

The meeting approved the appointment of three new board members. Luis Ramón Arrieta will replace Alfonso Basagoiti, while Robert Samuelson will represent Zegona and Jon James will become an independent director.

Shareholders approved the increase in the company’s capital required to finance the operation.

Telecable’s contribution to the group will represent about 15% of its overall business.

“In just over two years, three major challenges have been met: the company’s IPO, creating the leading telecommunications group in the north of Spain following the integration of R in Galicia in 2015 and the forthcoming integration of Telecable in Asturias, and a solid shareholder remuneration policy through the distribution of dividends,” said Euskaltel chairman Alberto García Erauzkin.