A report in the Sunday Times suggests that the enthusiasm for buyers to acquire UK mast and transmission company Arqiva is fading fast. The report says that Singapore’s GIC sovereign wealth fund has withdrawn from the £6 billion auction, which “leaves just one solid bidder in the frame — Canadian property empire Brookfield,” said the newspaper, which goes on to suggest that Arqiva might now be forced to initiate an IPO.

Arqiva’s current owners are Australian bank Macquarie and the Canada Pension Plan. The anxieties over the purchase focus on the long-term prospects for Arqiva and worries over shifts from traditional TV, one of Arqiva’s backbone services, and video being streamed over the Internet.

Arqiva, says the report, is seeking £2.5 billion for its equity, plus the company’s existing debt pile.

If the auction/sale falls through then Arqiva’s counter-plan for an IPO is by no means certain given a seeming anxiety over the company’s uncertain future.

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Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Business, IPO, IPTV, M&A, OTT, Services