LGI mulls bid for Kabel BW

US cable giant Liberty Global Inc (LGI) is considering a bid for German regional cableco Kabel BW, Bloomberg reports, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. According to the unnamed sources, LGI is said to be evaluating the viability of combining its German subsidiary Unitymedia with Kabel BW in the face of possible anti-trust hurdles. The US firm has hired Goldman Sachs to advise on a possible bid. Last month Swedish private equity group EQT reportedly hired two banks to prepare an initial public offering (IPO) or sale of Kabel BW, which could raise around EUR2 billion (USD2.65 billion) next year. EQT has been the sole shareholder in Heidelberg-based Kabel BW since it bought the cableco from US investment group Blackstone in April 2006 for around EUR1.3 billion. In the past, LGI has expressed an interest in acquiring Kabel BW, which had a cable subscriber base of around 2.3 million at 30 September 2010, including around 624,000 broadband and telephony customers. LGI completed the acquisition of Unitymedia in January 2010 for a total consideration of around EUR3.5 billion.