Vodafone has acquired Liberty Globals cable TV and broadband operations in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania, in a deal worth €18.4bn (£16.1bn). Deutsche Telekom, Europes largest telecoms provider by revenue, has strongly objected to the acquisition.

Liberty Global owns a variety of cable and broadband services including Virgin Media in the UK, which it plans to retain. The acquisition will, according to Vodafone, make the operator the leading next generation network owner in Europe, with 54m cable/fibre homes on-net and a total reach of 110m homes and businesses, including wholesale arrangements.

The deal could have a particularly large impact in Germany, where Vodafone is hoping to create a “converged national challenger to the dominant incumbent…with the scale to accelerate achievement of the German governments digital ambitions”. The operator already owns the largest cable business in Germany, having acquired Kabel Deutschland five years ago. The acquisition will also reshape Vodafones operations in Central and Eastern Europe, combining its existing cellular reach with fixed line and broadband connections.

“This transaction will create the first truly converged pan-European champion of competition,” said Vittorio Colao, group chief executive at Vodafone. “It represents a step change in Europes transition to a Gigabit Society and a transformative combination for Vodafone that will generate significant value for shareholders.

“We are committed to accelerating and deepening investment in next generation mobile and fixed networks, building on Vodafones track record of ensuring that customers benefit from the choice of a strong and sustainable challenger to dominant incumbent operators. Vodafone will become Europes leading next generation entwork owner, serving the largest number of mobile customers and households across the EU.”

Liberty Globals management and employees in the acquired regions will “have the opportunity to play an integral role within the combined company”, but Vodafone has not committed to no job losses, and in fact is predicting approximately €535m in cost and capex savings per year thanks to synergies between the two companies.

Timotheus Höttges, chief executive at Deutsche Telekom, called the deal “completely unacceptable” when it was first rumoured in February.

“I do not see that this kind of concentration in the cable market can be supported from regulatory bodies,” said Höttges. “I dont believe that Germany wants to go into a situation like Eastern European markets, where TV markets are dominated by telco players.”