Vodafone, one of the biggest telecom groups in the world, is close to a deal with American cable operator Liberty Global to take over its operations in Germany and Eastern Europe, including Romania.

The deal is estimated at some EUR 16.5 billion, according to sources quoted by Financial Times. The talks are close to the end, according to the same sources.

Vodafone announced in February that it was negotiating with Liberty Global, two years after a similar attempt failed.

Both Vodafone and Liberty Global have operations in Romania. Vodafone is the second-largest mobile operator on the local market while UPC Romania is one of the main cable TV and fixed broadband internet providers. A deal would help the two companies come up with integrated fixed-mobile service packages, similar to their competitors Orange, Telekom and RCS&RDS.

editor@romania-insider.com