Liberty Global has reportedly withdrawn from the bidding process to acquire T-Mobile Netherlands, instead opting to pursue a tie-up with Vodafone in the country.

The cable giant, which operates Dutch cable entity Ziggo, and Vodafone Netherlands confirmed talks earlier this week regarding a possible deal to combine both businesses.

The move has however had a knock on effect to Deutsche Telekom’s unit T-Mobile Netherlands, according to sources at local publication Telegraaf, with Liberty Global now “officially out of the race” to acquire the company put up for sale in October.

The publication suggests Liberty Global favours a deal with Vodafone in light of its recent history with the UK-based operator. Talks between the two in the Netherlands come just months after a breakdown in negotiations regarding a wider asset merger in Europe.

Liberty Global’s withdrawal means T-Mobile Netherlands could now fall into the hands of private equity investors Appollo and Warburg Pincus, which made non-binding bids of approximately €2.5 billion, plus add-ons, reported Reuters in November.

A valuation of €5 billion was actually touted when news of the sale first broke, and in other contrasting recent reports, the German operator has now actually decided to shelve plans to sell the operator after not receiving high enough bids.

Telegraaf added any potential deal with Vodafone and Ziggo is likely to face regulatory scrutiny at a European level.

T-Mobile Netherlands is the country’s third largest player with 3.7 million connections as of Q1 2016. Vodafone is number two in the Netherlands with 6.2 million.