14 DAY TRIAL // Using its European subsidiary, UPC Broadband, Liberty Global has acquired all the stocks owned by Astral Telecom. The transaction will cost Liberty Global $404.5 million and it will be finalized only after it receives the approval of the Competition Commission.
Astral Telecom's stocks were owned by Romanian entrepreneurs, foreign investors and by AIG New Europe Fund.
Astral Telecom has at this moment 890,000 subscribers for voice, data and video services, while UPC Romania already has 360,000 clients.
With this merger, UPC becomes one of the most important cable operators from Romania, amounting to 1,300,000 subscribers.
According to Evenimentul Zilei, each of the eight Romanian stockholders, who founded Astral Telecom, will receive 4 to 17 million dollars.
Liberty Global offers broadband services outside the US, mainly in Europe, Asia and Latin America. On March 31 2005, Liberty Global had 14.3 million subscribers, among which, 10.4 million for video services, 2.3 million for broadband services and 1.6 million for telephony services.