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October 19, 2006
Buzz Buildup For Neuf Cegetel IPO
Yesterday Les Echos reported the IPO slated for next week of Neuf Cegetel, the French alternative telco and broadband operator, is meeting demand.
Telcos and ISPs traditionally do well on Europe's public markets. Its rival, Iliad, had a stellar IPO back in 2004 that woke us all up after three years of post-bubble gloom and doom. We hear that the early investors in Iliad returned about 75 times money on that exit.
Neuf Cegetel is a good-sized float: if our math is right, a mid-bookbuilding price means the company would raise about €800M, circa €200M of which will actually flow to its coffers as new money. The rest buys out old investors. It would suggest a valuation of €4B.
We don't know much about how customers feel about Neuf Cegetel but we think it is pretty innovative compared to rivals.
It has shown that IPTV is not just about delivering the same stuff we get over the cable or terrestrial networks on a broadband pipe. For example, it launched a VOD service (provided by French startup Glowria) in a simple format.
Through a subsidiary it offers free phone calls in a Skype-like service called Wengo, and its "Hitview" audience monitoring service shows promise too.
Hitview enables IPTV subscribers to "see" not only what channels everyone else is watching, but also which shows are more the most popular. It says it's real time but we notice a 12 hour delay in the data online this morning. Realtime or not, it is difficult to this kind of thing with ease on cable and over-the-air broadcasting networks.
Neuf Does Things With IPTV That Satellite and Cable TV Operators Just Can't
Read - Wengo Expects Breakeven (a:c euro)
Read - Vodafone affiliate Neuf Cegetel IPO two-times oversubscribed - report (afx news)
Posted on October 19, 2006 07:35 AM | Posted to Broadband Services | Interactive TV | Internet infrastructure | News And Updates | Permalink
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