No Noos good news for NTL

French deal is one less headache

NTL is to sell back its stake in French cable company Noos to France Telecom.

Embattled NTL paid $625m for the unit last year, borrowing the funds to do so. However, now it looks likely that it wouldn't be able to meet a repayment deadline, so the French national carrier - itself an owner of 18.3 per cent of NTL - has agreed to buy back the stake.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley is the other owner of Noos.

Separately, France Telecom has written down to zero its investment in NTL, bought at the height of the telecoms bubble.