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Telenet sifts rival bids?
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May 12, 2000: 11:00 a.m. ET
Reports: Belgian cable co.'s shareholders set to vote on US, Anglo-Dutch bids
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Shareholders of Belgian cable communications operator Telenet are to vote next week on two rival bids that value the company at as much as  3 billion ($2.72 billion), according to newspaper reports.
Spokesman Fons Van Dyck declined to comment on a report in Belgium's De Standaard newspaper that a Dutch-British alliance and a U.S. cable operator had both bid to buy the company.
"We are in the final stages of the selection process," Van Dyck told Reuters. He declined to provide any further details.
De Standaard and the Wall Street Journal said Dutch cable company United Pan-Europe Communications had bid jointly with British cable operator NTL (NTLI: Research, Estimates), and another bid had come from U.S. cable operator Callahan Associates International.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the UPC-NTL bid values Telenet at about 3 billion, while Callahan has bid 2 billion.
Both UPC (UPCOY: Research, Estimates) and Callahan, which has been investing in networks throughout Europe, declined to comment. NTL officials were not immediately available for comment.
UPC and NTL have expressed an interest in Telenet, which offers cable television and telecom services in Belgium's northern Flanders region.
Belgian holding company GIMV has said it conservatively valued its 26 percent stake in Telenet at 239 million ($215.3 million). Analysts have estimated the value of Telenet as high as 300 billion Belgian francs ($6.73 billion). 
--from staff and wire reports
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