sector. In December 2017, it bought the American (and rival) company General Cable based in Kentucky. A transaction of almost three billion dollars, consisting of equity (1.5 billion) and financial debt. This merged the leading cable-making company in the world in terms of revenue (Prysmian) and the fourth (General Cable), creating a group with a revenue of EUR 10 billion, EBIDTA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of EUR 840 million and over 28,000 employees. Acquisition of General Cable The General Cable group was valued at 3 billion dollars with a price premium of approximately 81% to General Cable's share value on the last day of trading. The acquisition was unanimously approved by the two Boards of Directors and would create a company present in 50 countries with 31,000 employees, which could generate revenue of 11 billion dollars a year, based on estimates from the 2017 financial statements. The integration was expected to cost 220 million dollars. The price per share paid to General Cable was 30 dollars, versus a Prysmian dividend that was halved in 2011 after the acquisition of Draka, and stable at 43 cents per share. The General Cable group has one billion dollars of debt. Already the leading cable company in the world, with such "pro-forma" earnings, it would become twice as large as its second main competitor. Prysmian declared that it expects to increase its capital by more than 500 million in light of further acquisitions. The transaction was subject to approval by the antitrust authorities of the two countries. Its completion would create a market concentration in a strategic sector for public safety and economic development, which was already established by no more than ten competitors across Italy, the US and China. Other oligopolies exist in the fixed and mobile telephony sectors in various countries, partly due to the existence of natural monopolies. Activity The company is the global leader in the cable systems sector. Specifically, Prysmian produces and lays underground and submarine cables for the transmission and distribution of electricity, as well as specialised cables for use in various industrial contexts, and medium- and low-voltage cables for construction and infrastructure. For telecoms, the Group produces copper cables, optical cables and optical fibre cables for the transmission of data, video and sound. On the customer's request, Prysmian also Designs and produces key systems and takes care of post-installation maintenance. Every year, Prysmian invests