Investor Release Unity Media and Tele Columbus complete their ...

Investor Release
Unity Media and Tele Columbus complete their merger
• Major Milestone in development of German cable
• More than 7 million customers benefit from cable marriage
• Broader product range for larger customer base
Hanover/Cologne, 9 December 2005. Unity Media GmbH, the largest cable
television operator in the German states of Hesse and North-Rhine
Westphalia, and Tele Columbus, the largest Network Level 4 operator in
Germany, have today successfully completed their merger. The combination
creates the most dynamic German cable business with more than 7 million
subscribers.
“This merger is a major milestone in the development of German Cable”,
comments Parm Sandhu, CEO of Unity Media. “It marks the transformation of
an industry defined by network separation into one that is market and
customer focused. This combination will build on the successful integration of
iesy and ish by deepening our relationships with key segments of the market.”
Says Dr. Herbert Leifker, CEO of Tele Columbus: “The merger strengthens
both our companies and puts us in an improved competitive position. With
combined strength we are able to offer our existing and new customers the
advantage of triple-play (Cable TV, Internet and VOIP) even faster than on a
stand-alone base. Our fruitful relationships with our partners will be
deepened with an even more attractive product portfolio.”
Tele Columbus shareholders exchanged their shares in Tele Columbus Kabel Holding
GmbH for shares in Unity Media SCA, the Luxembourg holding company through
which Unity Media’s shareholders own their interest in the German operations.
Unity Media GmbH acquired the shares in Tele Columbus Kabel Holding GmbH from
Unity Media SCA. In connection with the merger "Tele Columbus AG & Co. KG" was

enamed "Tele Columbus GmbH & Co. KG". Unity Media and Tele Columbus will
continue to be operated as separate legal entities, but will be managed by a
unified management team with a shared strategy. They will be headquartered in
Cologne and Hanover. The two main shareholders of the combined business will be
BC Partners and Apollo with approximately 39% and 31% of total shares,
respectively. In order to align leverage, there is deferred consideration to the sum
of € 84m increasing by 12% p.a. non-cash.
Dr. Herbert Leifker will join Unity Media GmbH as a Managing Director. Dr.
Herbert Leifker (51) has been CEO of Tele Columbus GmbH since 1990. He
became Managing Director of Tele Columbus GmbH in 1990, which he has
developed into today’s Tele Columbus Group. He began his career with
Landeszentralbank NRW and as a divisional manager with Sparkasse
Hildesheim. Dr. Leifker holds a doctorate in law.

About Unity Media
Unity Media is headquartered in Cologne and is the proprietor of the Hessian cable network operator
iesy and the North Rhine-Westphalia cable network operator ish. The two companies are the largest
providers of cable television in their respective states. In addition to analogue cable services, ish
and iesy also offer digital television, high speed Internet and telephony. On 30 September 2005
Unity Media had approximately 5.2 million basic cable customers, 101,100 digital TV customers,
30,300 high speed Internet customers, and 11,500 telephone lines. More information on Unity Media
can be found at http://www.unitymedia.de
About Tele Columbus
Tele Columbus, headquartered in Hanover, is the largest NL4 operator in Germany with
approximately 2.6 million basic cable subscribers, 60,000 Digital TV subscribers, and 24,000 Internet
subscribers. The Company’s core business is the distribution of cable television and radio services.
More information on Tele Columbus can be found on its website at
http://www.telecolumbus.de
Unity Media GmbH:
Investor Relations Contact for Journalists
Carla Wagner Stefan Lennardt
Michael Frank Eva Krüger
Tel +49 (0)221 / 37792-150 Tel +49 (0)221 / 37792-197
Investor.Relations@unitymedia.de presse@unitymedia.de
Tele Columbus:
Investor Relations Contact for Journalists
Ralph Pöppel Matthias Levy
Tel +49 (0)511 / 9876 - 932 Tel +49 (0)30 88432 - 230
rpoeppel@kabel-tv.de Mlevy@kabel-tv.de