A €13.4 million deal that would have seen Danish triple-play operator Stofa – a subsidiary of private equity firm Ratos – acquire the Danish cable TV activities of Canal Digital is no longer to proceed following indications from competition bodies that approval of the deal was unlikely.

Stofa signed an agreement in January to acquire Canal Digital’s Danish cable TV business. “In view of the fact that the chances of obtaining approval from the competition authority are low, Telenor and Ratos have decided to terminate this process,” Ratos said in a Stock Market announcement.

At the end of March, the Danish Competition Authority announced that an in-depth competition review would be initiated. Intensive discussions were held with the competition authority, but the assessment is that chances of obtaining approval are low. In consultation with Telenor, Ratos has therefore decided to terminate this process.

“Of course it is unfortunate that we have not achieved our aim in discussions with the competition authority and are therefore forced to terminate the acquisition process,” commented Ratos CEO Arne Karlsson.

“Stofa has so far exceeded our expectations in conjunction with the acquisition and our original business plan was based exclusively on continued organic growth of these operations. Canal Digital, however, would have complemented Stofa well and been able to create added value, both for customers and for Stofa,” Karlsson continued.

Stofa provides some 350,000 Danish households with cable TV and 40 per cent of them with broadband as well. The services are delivered in close co-operation with 300 antenna associations throughout Denmark. In addition, Stofa also sells to end-user subscribers who are offered interactive TV services (pay-TV), broadband and IP telephony.

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