Liberty Global has completed the acquisition of Swiss operator Sunrise Communications.
The telecoms group purchased Sunrise for 6.8 billion Swiss francs (approximately $7.4 billion), a move that positions Sunrise as a significantly stronger competitor to Swisscom in the Swiss market.
Swisscom currently holds roughly 60% of Switzerland’s mobile market share, making this acquisition a strategic step toward greater market balance.
Earlier plans had seen Sunrise negotiate to acquire UPC, Switzerland’s largest cable operator and a Liberty Global asset, for around $6 billion. That transaction collapsed after Sunrise’s largest shareholder, Freenet, objected to certain terms.
Freenet has agreed to the current Liberty Global transaction and has signed an agreement to sell its Sunrise shares at the agreed price.
Mike Fries, CEO of Liberty Global, commented on the deal:
“This transaction is another significant step on our path to create fixed-mobile champions in all of our core markets, crystallising the value of our superior broadband networks and driving long-term, sustainable free cash flow growth.”
The acquisition is part of a wider trend of consolidation in telecoms, where mobile and fixed-line broadband assets are increasingly combined to deliver integrated services and stronger competitive positions.
Earlier this year, Liberty Global—owner of Virgin Media in the UK—also acquired mobile operator O2 from Telefónica, furthering its strategy of building converged service providers across key markets.
(Photo by Sebastien Gabriel on Unsplash)
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