Vodafone Group is reportedly closing in on an €18 billion deal to acquire a large chunk of assets from cable group Liberty Global, a move which could be officially confirmed as early as tomorrow (9 May).

UK’s Financial Times reported the companies had reached a deal for Vodafone to acquire Liberty’s German and Eastern European assets, citing people briefed on the transaction, in a move enabling the UK-based telecoms operator to expand its footprint across the continent.

Liberty Global is due to release its Q1 results later today, and barring any “last minute glitches” a deal could be announced in the next 24 hours, added FT.

Years of speculation
News of the deal would end years of speculation about a tie-up between the two companies.

The companies notably abandoned a proposed asset swap deal in 2015 following valuation disagreements but have since struck a joint venture in the Netherlands to establish cable and telecoms operator VodafoneZiggo. There were however little indications the model would be replicated in other European markets.

On the cards
The latest development backs up a report from the FT in late April indicating the companies were in the latter stages of finalising a deal, after Vodafone and Liberty kicked off discussions about the possible acquisition of the latter’s overlapping European assets in February.

According to Vodafone’s original notification, the deal is likely to comprise of the acquisition of Liberty Global’s operations in Germany, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

FT said Liberty Global’s retreat from Europe comes as the company’s chief John Malone become frustrated with the “Balkanisation” of the continent’s market.

For Vodafone, the deal will enable the company to step up competition with the continent’s largest operators, including Deutsche Telekom.