Deutsche Telekom said today it had signed a contract to sell its six remaining regional cable TV companies to US-based cable group Liberty Media for euro 5.5 billion.
The sale forms an important part of Deutsche Telekom's efforts to reduce its debt mountain of euro 65.5 billion and will make Liberty Europe's largest cable company with over 20 million customers.
The German telecoms giant, Europe's number two telecom operator by market value after Vodafone, is aiming to reduce its debt to about euro 50 billion euros by the end of 2002.
Deutsche Telekom shares, which briefly dipped to a fresh three-and-a-half year low of euro 16.06 yesterday, initially rallied 4.5 per cent.
Liberty Media is aiming to build a US-style cable industry in Europe that stretches across the continent rather than one divided along regional lines.