Amsterdam, Netherlands -- United Pan-Europe Communications
N.V. (UPC), the European cable arm of UnitedGlobalCom, said last week that it signed a
definitive agreement to buy Swedish MSO Stjärn TV for about $400 million.
UPC also said it would buy Ujpest, a small Hungarian cable
operator, for $10 million.
When pending deals close, UPC systems will pass more than
8.8 million homes and 5.5 million subscribers, making it the second-largest operator in
Continental Europe behind Deutsche Telekom.
EQT Scandinavia Ltd.'s Stjärn TV, based in Stockholm, has
cable systems passing 770,000 homes and 30,000 businesses, with 240,000 subscribers as of
March 31.
UPC said it would pay 75 percent in cash and 25 percent in
a note convertible into equity or cash, at UPC's option. EQT Scandinavia also intends to
bid with UPC for other Scandinavian cable assets when they become available.
The Ujpest acquisition adds 34,000 homes passed and 28,000
subscribers in the Budapest area to UPC's operation.
Goldman Sachs International advised UPC, and Morgan Stanley
Dean Witter & Co. advised EQT Scandinavia.
UPC completed an initial public offering in February, and
it said earlier this month that it would offer $1.5 billion in debt securities to
institutional investors.
In NASDAQ trading last Monday afternoon (July 12), the
company's share price rose $3.88, or 6 percent, to $66.38.
