European cable: quad play - FT.com Acquisition is not the only way to deliver the bundled services that are causing a buzz European cable companies are buzzing like TVs on the blink. Shares in most quoted groups have risen 10 per cent or more in the past fortnight, easily outstripping modest gains in European equity markets generally. A $23bn bid for Britain's Virgin Media by Liberty Global this month - and the US-based group's confirmation that it is still interested in acquiring other European assets - is one big driver. But so is the prospect of more shifts in the way consumers buy their entertainment and telecoms services. The speed and extent to which families move from purchasing three-way bundles of TV/broadband/telephony to four-way offerings, where mobile is added in, has always been a tough call. Variations between Europe's national markets are likely to be significant. Even take-up of three-way bundles ranges from more than 40 per cent of households in Portugal, say, to a tiny 1 per cent in Italy. Still, some aggressive four-way offerings have been making waves - including from Spain's Telefónica, as it tries to win back domestic mobile customers, and from Belgian cable operator Telenet, which managed to double its share of Flanders" mobile market to 7 per cent in 2012. That is bad news for embattled telco rivals, particularly because "quad play" subscriptions appear to reduce customer churn. Small wonder, then, that Vodafone - which seems to have missed the opportunity to acquire cable assets in Portugal and the UK - is said to be running its ruler over Germany's Kabel Deutschland. Investors need to be careful. Consolidation could face antitrust hurdles. And acquisition is not the only means of delivering bundled services; commercial agreements are another option. Cable valuations have also become heady: Ziggo's shares trade on 17 times consensus 2013 earnings; KD's on more than 20 times. Still, the buzz won't be fading soon.