Vodafone in talks to buy Liberty Global assets

Vodafone said on Friday it was in talks with John Malone`s Liberty Global about buying some of the cable company`s assets in Europe.

"Vodafone confirms that it is in early stage discussions with Liberty Global regarding the potential acquisition of certain overlapping continental European assets owned by Liberty Global," the company said in response to a report in the Financial Times.

It said it was not in discussion with Liberty Global regarding a combination of both companies.

Shares in Vodafone rose 5.5 percent. Liberty Global was up 5 percent in New York to a more than two-year high.

Liberty Global noted Vodafone`s statement and had no further comment, a spokesman said.

The world`s second biggest mobile operator and the cable company discussed swapping assets in 2015, but they could not reach agreement on values.

The two, however, did agree to form a joint venture in the Netherlands.

Germany is by far the biggest continental market where they are both major broadband providers, and Vodafone is the second biggest mobile operator there after Deutsche Telekom.

They also have overlapping operations in Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania in continental Europe, as well as in Britain and Ireland.