Tele Columbus cancels refinancing talks after pulling IPO: sources

LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German cable operator Tele Columbus [ESCALC.UL] has canceled loan refinancing talks after pulling a planned initial public offering (IPO), two sources familiar with the matter said. Tele Columbus had planned to raise about 300 million euros ($380 million) from the IPO to reduce debt and bring down its financial leverage to about 3.5 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). It had also been in talks with banks about a 500 million euro loan refinancing, including a 375 million euro loan, paying, 50 million euro revolving credit and a 75 million capital expenditure facility. "The refinancing was subject to the IPO. And the likelihood that an IPO will take place this year is currently very, very low," one of the sources said on Friday, citing choppy market conditions. Faltering investor appetite for European stock market listings has already forced German online classifieds group Scout24, French energy services company Spie and British bank Aldermore to delay planned listings. Tele Columbus, owned by several hedge funds and credit funds after a financial restructuring, is Germany's third-largest cable operator behind Liberty Global's Unitymedia Kabel BW and Vodafone's Kabel Deutschland. (1 US dollar = 0.7891 euro) (Reporting by Claire Ruckin, Alexander Hübner and Arno Schuetze; Editing by David Goodman)