Liberty Global Buys Vodafone’s VodafoneZiggo Stake for €1 Billion, Equity
The transaction gave Liberty Global full control of VodafoneZiggo and advanced plans to form and list a broader Benelux telecommunications group.
Liberty Global Ltd. (LBTYA) completed its acquisition of Vodafone Group Plc’s 50% shareholding in VodafoneZiggo, taking full ownership of the Dutch telecommunications operator in a mixed cash-and-equity transaction. Vodafone received approximately €1.0 billion in cash and a 10% interest in Ziggo Group, the new regional company through which Liberty Global plans to hold its Benelux operations.
The closing marked a significant step in Liberty Global’s effort to unlock value from its telecommunications portfolio. When the companies signed the definitive agreement in February, they outlined plans for Ziggo Group to hold Liberty Global’s interests in VodafoneZiggo and Belgium’s Telenet, while both operators continued under their existing brands, management teams and credit structures. The companies also entered long-term service agreements intended to maintain operational alignment during the transition.
The larger regional structure would provide the scale to improve products and services for households and businesses while supporting long-term shareholder value. “Ziggo Group is already the most important telecommunications company in the Benelux region, with the scale to deliver the highest quality services to residential and enterprise customers and the ambition to create long-term value for shareholders,” Chairman and Chief Executive Mike Fries said.
VodafoneZiggo and Telenet together serve about 13 million customers and generate €6.6 billion in annual revenue, giving Ziggo Group a base spanning the Netherlands and Belgium. The stand-alone group would have greater strategic and financial focus, allowing it to invest in new products, improve digital customer service and respond more quickly to changing demand. VodafoneZiggo and Telenet are expected to retain their existing brands and local leadership.
The approach follows Liberty Global’s 2024 separation of Sunrise, its Swiss telecommunications business. That transaction serves as a model for creating distinct investment profiles around national and regional operators, and Sunrise finance chief Jany Fruytier was named chief financial officer of Ziggo Group after helping oversee the Swiss company’s public listing.
Liberty Global plans to list Ziggo Group on Euronext Amsterdam in 2027 and distribute its 90% holding to its shareholders, subject to shareholder approval, leaving Vodafone with the remaining 10%. Financial and operational synergies, together with incremental services, could have a combined net present value of €1.0 billion. The company also targeted roughly €500 million of combined adjusted free cash flow by 2028 and outlined a deleveraging path supported by earnings growth, cash generation and asset sales.
Completion of the VodafoneZiggo purchase put the ownership structure in place for that next phase, shifting Liberty Global’s Benelux strategy from assembling the assets to preparing Ziggo Group for a stand-alone public listing.