Parent company Liberty Global is making changes to Telenet’s structure. Telenet will be merged with the Dutch VodafoneZiggo and is reducing its stake in the Wyre joint venture.
Liberty Global, Telenet’s American parent company, has announced a major overhaul in the Benelux. The company intends to merge its two Benelux subsidiaries, Telenet and VodafoneZiggo, into a single new group. It then plans to take that company public on the Amsterdam stock exchange next year.
Telenet has been wholly owned by Liberty Group since 2023. The American company now aims to achieve the same with the Dutch VodafoneZiggo by buying out Vodafone. Vodafone, which was once a co-owner of Proximus in the past, would still retain a ten percent minority stake in the newly formed Ziggo Group.
Return to the stock market
Following the buyout of Vodafone, Liberty Group will merge Telenet and VodafoneZiggo into a new parent organization, Ziggo Group. In a press release, Liberty Global states that it aims to develop a ‘regional powerhouse’ in the telecom sector. VodafoneZiggo is the second-largest player in the Dutch market behind KPN, while Telenet holds that same position in Belgium behind Proximus.
Liberty Global intends to list the newly formed group on the Amsterdam stock exchange starting in 2027. For Telenet, this would mark a return to the stock market. Telenet disappeared from the Bel-20 exchange in Brussels after Liberty Global gained full control of the telecom company in 2023.
Wyre (partially) for sale
It remains to be seen what these changes will mean for the Telenet brand and its telecom services. Things are also set to change for Wyre, the joint venture between Telenet and Fluvius. Telenet currently holds a two-thirds stake in Wyre, but Liberty Global wants to reduce this.
De Tijd reports that Telenet will sell fifty percent of the shares, potentially allowing a third, equal partner to join the project. Telenet co-founded Wyre to accelerate the fiber-optic rollout, although that project has not been without its problems. The sale of Wyre shares is intended to free up extra cash to pay down debt.