Vodafone confirms $10bn purchase of Spanish cable firm Ono

Vodafone has agreed to buy Spanish cable operator Ono in order to bolster the company's operations within Europe.

The purchase price of private equity-owned Ono is 7.2 billion euros ($10.03 billion), as reported by Reuters. The U.K. operator expects to achieve cost and capital expenditure benefits of roughly 240 million euros before integration costs within four years after purchase.

The buyout includes Vodafone shouldering approximately €3.3bn in Ono debt.

Ono, a mobile and fixed telecommunications firm based in Spain, said that operating revenue totaled 1.5 million euros in 2013, driven by a push in to enterprise and mobile services. The company caters for over 1.9 million customers.

Vittorio Colao, Vodafone's chief executive commented:

Demand for unified communications products and services has increased significantly over the past few years in Spain, and this transaction -- together with our fibre-to-the-home build programme -- will accelerate our ability to offer best-in-class propositions in the Spanish market.

The purchase of Ono marks the third acquisition of a European telecoms and broadband provider by Vodafone in the past two years, and grants Vodafone a foothold in to the Spanish home broadband, TV, and telephone markets. Last year, Vodafone purchased Kabel Deutschland in a deal worth €7.7bn, and the deal will also be complemented by agreements with Orange to build fiber networks in Spain.

Vodafone submitted a number of offers to purchase Ono last year, but Spain's second-largest fixed telecoms operator originally snubbed the deal, and planned to push forward with an IPO instead.

In January, Vodafone shareholders agreed to sell the firm's 45 percent stake in U.S. carrier Verizon Wireless. The deal, which gave $84 billion back to shareholders, granted Verizon full control of its cellular business.