Euskaltel for sale?

VeloFutur ran an interesting story yesterday on the future of telecommunications company Euskaltel. According to the well-informed website, the company may be up for sale.

A few weeks back, VeloFutur reported that Euskaltel were in the process of buying the leading telecommunications company in Asturias: Telecable. An eventual purchase of the Asturian firm would likely see a radical change in the team's philosophy, so there was a certain amount of relief when news came in that the deal had broken down. It now transpires though that Euskaltel itself might be sold.

Euskaltel was formed by a joint effort from the Basque Government and Basque public savings banks back in 1995. The latter, the public savings banks, owns a 67 percent share in the company. In light of the tough economic climate in Spain, the three Basque savings banks (BKK, Caja Vital and Kutxa) merged to create the Kutxa Bank in late October. An eventual sale of Euskaltel would therefore, according to the website, provide Kutxa Bank with a large injection of money.

The American-based Carlyle Group, who only last month acquired an 85 percent share in the aforementioned Telecable, and world-leading equity firm CVC Capital Partners are purportedly the two most likely buyers, but as of yet nothing is official. How it'll affect the team and its economy is also a big unknown, but it might have an impact of the team's future beyond 2012. Stay tuned.