EXCLUSIVE-UPDATE 1-Get cable owners seek 1 bln euro sale-sources

Quotes

   

Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:03pm BST

* Quadrangle, GS Capital Partners prepare Get sale-sources

* Norway's Get could fetch more than 1 bln euros-sources

* Sale seen end 2012 or early 2013-sources

* Could interest Liberty Global, private equity-sources

(Adds details)

By Simon Meads and Victoria Howley

LONDON, July 10 (Reuters) - The private equity owners of Norwegian cable group Get are preparing for a 1 billion euro-plus ($1.2 billion) sale of the company, people familiar with the situation said, aiming to tap one of the most active sectors for buyout groups since the credit crisis.

Telecoms- and technology-focused buyouts group Quadrangle and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners are considering putting the country's second largest cable company up for sale later this year, or early next year, three people said.

Goldman Sachs (GS.N) is expected to handle the sale of Get, the people said.

When it launches, the process will join a series of company sales in the Nordic region worth billions of dollars, including Danish retailer Matas. [ID:nL6E816246]

The cable sector has been one of the hottest for private equity exits since the credit crisis, illustrated by the sales of Germany's Kabel Baden-Wuerttemberg and Sweden's Com Hem, both of which attracted fierce competition from rival groups and other private equity houses.

A sale of Get could fetch 1 billion euros or more, the people said, and attract major buyout groups that have long been active in the sector because of its steady growth and cash flows.

UPC, the European division of John Malone's cable group Liberty Global (LBTYA.O), could also take an interest in the company, even though it sold the business in 2005 to private equity, one of the people said.

Since then, Get has completed the upgrade of its network infrastructure, switched to digital broadcasting and now reaches about 1 million customers in Norway.

Quadrangle and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners bought Get in 2007 for 724 million euros, from now defunct private equity group Candover.

Quadrangle, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Get were not immediately available for comment.

(Editing by Sophie Sassard and David Cowell)

((simon.meads@thomsonreuters.com)(+44 20 7542 9969)(Reuters Messaging: simon.meads.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: GET/SALE

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