Liberty Global’s buyback has grounds to go large

Liberty Global

08/03/2024 10:28

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions
expressed are his own.)
    By Pierre Briancon
       LONDON, March 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Shares in the
$7 bln telco conglomerate are down 12% since it announced a
restructuring of its scattered units last month. After flagging
new buybacks for 10% of the stock, CEO Mike Fries joked he was
taking the group private very slowly. Maybe he should – but
fast.
    Full view will be published shortly.
    Follow @pierrebri on X
    
    CONTEXT NEWS
    Liberty Global announced on Feb. 16 that it would spin off
its Swiss telecom unit Sunrise to shareholders later this year
following its $7.4 billion takeover of the business in 2020.
    The listing on the SIX Swiss exchange is planned for the
second half of 2024, with two classes of shares, Liberty Global
said in a statement.

 (Editing by George Hay and Oliver Taslic)
 ((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can
click on  BRIANCON/ 
pierre.briancon@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
pierre.briancon.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))