Liberty Global, the US group controlled by media mogul John Malone, said today it was acquiring Unitymedia, Germany"s number two provider of cable television service to homes, dpa reported. The companies said Liberty would pay 3.5 billion euros (5.2 billion dollars) including acquisition of debt for full ownership of Cologne-based Unitymedia in the first half of next year. Unitymedia said it was seeking clearance from European Union competition regulators for the deal. Liberty Global said that after the takeover it will supply more than 40 million households worldwide. Cable companies generally offer telephone, internet and pay and free-view TV service through the same wire. Billionaire Malone tried unsuccessfully in 2002 to acquire most of Germany"s cable network, but ran into regulatory issues with German authorities. The German network was later broken up. The largest product of the breakup was a new company, Kabel Deutschland.
