Virgin Media O2 owners to buy British fibre firm Substantial for $2.7 billion
A consortium including Liberty Global agreed on Wednesday to buy British alternative fibre provider Substantial Group for 2 billion pounds ($2.72 billion) in a bid to take on BT Openreach.
The acquisition will be made through an existing three-way joint venture between Virgin Media O2 co-owners – Liberty and Spain’s Telefonica – and private equity firm InfraVia.
It is expected to unlock 3.5 billion pounds in investment in the UK as they bet on consolidation in Britain’s fibre broadband market, the three companies said in a joint statement.
