After years of speculation, Liberty Global has finally agreed to sell significant European cable assets to Vodafone. Over the years, various outcomes have been anticipated for the two companies, from full merger, to Liberty acquiring Vodafone, or vice versa. They had already combined their Dutch operations in a joint venture which was widely seen as a dress rehearsal for something bigger. The final agreement does exclude Liberty’s UK subsidiary, Virgin Media, but includes UnityMedia in Germany. In the past, Germany was expected to be a sticking point for any Liberty-Vodafone deal because it would create a cable giant by combining UnityMedia with Vodafone’s Kable Deutschland. However, the regulatory mood at the European Commission has become more merger-friendly as over-the-top services…