* Buys 12.65 pct stake in Ziggo for 632.5 mln euros <\/p>\n
* Liberty already present in Netherlands through UPC <\/p>\n
* Ziggo shares rise on speculation of full takeover bid <\/p>\n
* Liberty already tied up with $15.75 bln Virgin Media (NasdaqGS: VMED - news) deal (Adds shares, analyst comment, background) <\/p>\n
AMSTERDAM, March 28 (Reuters) - Cable operator Liberty Global extended its reach into the Netherlands by buying a 12.65 percent stake in Ziggo for 632.5 million euros ($808 million), prompting speculation it might eventually make a full bid. <\/p>\n
Liberty Global (NasdaqGS: LBTYA - news) , which owns Dutch cable firm UPC, said on Thursday it bought the shares in the Netherlands' largest cable operator for 25 euros apiece from Barclays Capital Securities. <\/p>\n
Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) ended up with a 14.2 percent stake in Ziggo after failing to find enough buyers for the shares in a sale it ran last week. <\/p>\n
Ziggo shares shot up 9.3 percent to 26.565 euros in early trading, valuing the whole company at about 5.3 billion euros. <\/p>\n
Analysts said the rise was based on the idea Liberty could make a full bid, although they added it probably couldn't in the short term because it was already planning to buy Britain's Virgin Media Inc for about $15.75 billion. <\/p>\n
\"Ziggo shares should benefit from hopes of an eventual takeover by Liberty, but we think the shares are also seeing a short-squeeze following overhang from the recent placing,\" said UBS Investment Research in a research note. <\/p>\n
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UPDATE 1- Liberty pushes deeper into Netherlands with Ziggo stake<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" * Buys 12.65 pct stake in Ziggo for 632.5 mln euros * Liberty already present in Netherlands through UPC * Ziggo shares rise on speculation of full takeover bid * Liberty already tied up with $15.75 bln Virgin Media (NasdaqGS: VMED - news) deal (Adds shares, analyst comment, background) AMSTERDAM, March 28 (Reuters) - Cable operator Liberty Global extended its reach into the Netherlands by buying a 12.65 percent stake in Ziggo for 632.5 million euros ($808 million), prompting speculation it might eventually make a full bid. Liberty Global (NasdaqGS: LBTYA - news) , which owns Dutch cable firm UPC, said on Thursday it bought the shares in the Netherlands' largest cable operator for 25 euros apiece from Barclays Capital Securities Continue reading