Vodafone acquires Liberty Global's European assets for €18.4bn

Vodafone aims to offer cable TV, fixed line, broadband and mobile in one package across Europe

Vodafone is to acquire Liberty Global's operations in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania for €18.4 billion.

The company is aiming to expand its presence across Europe, by offering packages of cable TV, broadband and mobile connectivity.

It will give Vodafone access to more than 54 million homes using fibre-optic broadband, providing it with the ability to sell its services to new customers, while driving efficiency savings by combining back-office and other functions.

As part of the deal, the world's second-largest mobile network operator will also take control of Unitymedia, a cable operator based in Germany.

Here, Vodafone hopes to become a "converged national challenger", with the aim of providing gigabit connections to 25 million German homes by 2022.

Meanwhile, it claims that the deal will transform its fixed-line and convergence business in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania.

Vodafone said that the combined business will reach 6.4 million homes as well as 15.8 million mobile, 1.8 million broadband and 2.1 million TV customers in these countries.

Once the deal is finalised, Vodafone said it will give Liberty's management and employees the opportunity to play an "integral role" in the combined company.

The deal could also result in annual cost savings of up to €535 million, the company claimed, and deliver a net value of €6 billion once Liberty's assets are fully rolled into Vodafone.

However, it is likely that the deal will face tough scrutiny from regulators. Despite this, Vodafone is confident it can close the deal by the middle of 2019.

"This transaction will create the first truly converged pan-European champion of competition," said Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao.

"We are committed to accelerating and deepening investment in next generation mobile and fixed networks, building on Vodafone's track record of ensuring that customers benefit from the choice of a strong and sustainable challenger to dominant incumbent operators.

"Vodafone will become Europe's leading next generation network owner, serving the largest number of mobile customers and households across the EU."

The deal has been met with criticism by Vodafone's rivals, which fear the firm becoming too dominant in the European telecoms sector.

In February, Deutsche Telekom's CEO Timotheus Höttges called the plans "completely unacceptable".

"I do not see that this kind of concentration in the cable market can be supported from regulatory bodies," he said at the time.