The BBC’s Worldwide division is raising £170 million (€200m) in a bond issue, according to FT. The borrowing, first mentioned back in May, is said to be trying to find new ways to finance BBC Worldwide, its commercial arm. Profits from BBC Worldwide are supposed to be channelled into the wholly publicly-funded BBC. However, BBC […]
Online video company Fullscreen – the premier global YouTube network for creators and brands – has closed a round of Series A funding. The round was led by The Chernin Group along with Comcast Ventures and WPP. “Fullscreen’s mission is to empower a new generation of video creators to reach online audiences on a global […]
Time Warner Inc and China Media Capital, China’s leading investment fund focused on media and entertainment, have formed a strategic investment partnership. The news was revealed in the western Chinese city of Chengdu, where business leaders convened for the 2013 Fortune Global Forum. The partnership aims to capitalise on China’s rapidly expanding media sector as […]
ABS-CBN of the Philippines has raised 2.5 billion Philippines Pesos (about $60 million) for digital TV expansion. The cash is part of a larger plan, totalling P4 billion (about $95 million), with P1.5 billion of the cash coming from a sister company of current owners the Lopez Group. However, P2.5 billion will come from a […]
Fastly, the real-time content delivery network, announced that it has raised a $10 million Series B round from August Capital. This follows a previous $1 million Series A from Amplify Partners, Battery Ventures and O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures. “The Fastly approach fundamentally changes the way we think about user experiences on mobile and web. The traditional […]
Roku has raised $60 million in new funding from Hearst Corporation, News Corp and Sky as well as institutional investor Fidelity. The company said that the new investment will help Roku expand its streaming services. Roku said it has now raised $140 million to date. Roku competes with Apple TV and is working with US […]
TuneIn has raised a new $25 million round of funding. TuneIn CEO John Donham says that he intends to spend the new funding on a monetisation strategy that could help radio broadcasters finally make money with their programming online, and in turn transform a $30 billion industry. TuneIn is offering access to live and on-demand […]
Moody’s Investors Service doesn’t think much of Intelsat’s latest batch of borrowings, assigning an issue of $2 billion in unsecured debt at a B3 rating, and an even lower Caa1 rating to the satellite operator’s $635 million notes. However, Moody’s also reminds investors that Intelsat’s other debt are at much the same rating. “While the […]
George Soros has invested £50 million (€59m) into Hyperoptic, the British fibre broadband provider, to help expand the business across the UK. Hyperoptic builds high-speed broadband connections of up to 1gbps to residential developments. The group has secured the amount from investors led by Quantum Strategic Partners, a private investment vehicle managed by Soros Fund […]
Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network is raising $2.5 billion in fresh debt. The cash will be placed into a special escrow account ready to be used for Dish’s proposed purchase of US cellular giant Sprint Nextel. Ergen said that week that he would only make a firm financing commitment when it was clear that it was […]