Callahan acquires 54% of Alcatel unit

DENVER – Continuing its European buying binge, Callahan Associates said last week it is acquiring a controlling interest in a cable operator with 1.6 million subscribers in Belgium.

The $1.6-billion deal to buy 54.2 percent of Telenet, a division of French telecommunications giant Alcatel, would bring Callahan’s total number of European cable subscribers to 6.6 million.

"This is a very healthy addition to our overall holdings," said Andrew Sukawaty, Callahan’s London-based president and chief operating officer.

Callahan‘s subscribers on the continent will grow to 8.8 million when a separate deal in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, closes soon, Sukawaty said.

Callahan, headed by former US West International chief Dick Callahan, invested in its first European cable systems in Spain and France in 1999.

A year ago, it joined the ranks of the largest European cable companies when it won a bid for controlling stake in Deutsche Telekom’s 4.4 million-subscriber North Rhine-Westphalia franchise.

Sukawaty said Callahan Associates has been working on the Telenet acquisition since May of last year.