Providence Equity nets $1B in offering

PROVIDENCE – Taking Germany’s biggest cable TV operator public has generated more than $1 billion for Rhode Island-based Providence Equity Partners.
Kabel Deutschland GmbH started selling shares overseas on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange last month in Germany’s largest initial public offering in three years. On the first day of trading on March 22, the share price closed at 22.235 euros, or about $29.64. That gives the company a market value of about $2.7 billion, according to news reports.
BusinessWeek reported that ProvEquity’s stake would be reduced to between 66.7 and 61.7 percent, depending on whether the company exercised its option to sell more shares than originally planned.
Before the IPO, ProvEquity held an 88 percent stake in Kabel Deutschland, while Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan held 8 percent and Kabel Deutschland managers accounted for the remaining 4 percent of the shares.
ProvEquity had initially planned to sell the cable TV company but changed plans when ProvEquity executives believed listing on a stock exchange would lead to a higher valuation. •