Image source: Liberty Global.
What: Shares of Liberty Global plc (LBTYA 1.52%) (LBTYK 1.41%) were down more than 10% as of 12:00 p.m. Friday following the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union.
So what: For one, any political and economic uncertainty caused by the Brexit casts a shadow over Europe, which fellow Fool Travis Hoium last month called a "slow and steady winner for Liberty Global" after the company turned in solid fiscal first-quarter 2016 results.
This could also make a potential combination of Liberty Global and Vodafone Group -- something Liberty Global Chairman John Malone asserted last year would make sense in western Europe -- more difficult to implement. As it stands, the two companies were already hoping to revitalize growth in the the Netherlands with a recently formed joint venture to merge Vodaphone's local mobile segment with Liberty Global's Dutch cable and internet businesses.
Now what: In the end, investors can take some solace knowing Liberty Global is hardly the only company to decline today given its Brexit-related exposure. And we should also keep in mind just as the wider-reaching fallout of the Brexit development remains unclear, it's hard to pinpoint any specific negative effects the development will have on Liberty Global. In the meantime, Liberty Global investors would do well to take a deep breath, and focus instead on the encouraging fundamentals driving the business.
