QSC says mulls sale of DSL network, shares jump
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German Internet service company QSC said on Thursday it was considering a sale of its DSL network, sparking a 20-percent jump in its shares.
Responding to a report in Germany‘s Manager Magazin, which pointed to bigger peer United Internet as the potential buyer of the network, QSC said that it had been reviewing various options for its network for some time now.
“These options also include the potential sale of its DSL network. The relevant talks concerning the various options are at a very early stage,” QSC said in a regulatory statement, without making a reference to United Internet.
United Internet, which earlier this year agreed to buy the stake of private equity firm KKR in cable group Versatel for 586 million euros, declined to comment.
Shares in QSC shares were up a fifth by 1500 GMT, giving it a market capitalization of more than 200 million euros ($246 million). The shares, which posted their biggest intra-day gain in more than a decade, were at the top of a 3.5 percent stronger German technology index.
United Internet shares were up 4 percent, after hitting an all-time high of 37.50 euros.
Marcus Silbe, an analyst at Close Brothers Seydler Research, said that rumours about United Internet buying QSC as a whole have been around for a while but that this new rumour was quite a surprise.
“QSC noted that the access to a network is crucial for the company. This does, however, not exclude the possibility of selling the network and still using the network in the form of a corporation,” the analyst said, sticking to his “hold” recommendation.
(Reporting by Harro ten Wolde and Peter Maushagen; editing by Thomas Atkins and Vincent Baby)