India has changed its rules regarding the percentage of foreign ownership allowed in its giant telcos. At present local ownership must limits foreign ownership to 74 per cent. Once ratified the new rules permit 100 per cent, however a non-Indian company will be limited to a 49 per cent stake. The balance no longer need […]
Samsung has acquired US web TV service Boxee in a deal reported to be worth $30 million. The move will enhance Samsung’s Smart TV offering. Announcing the deal in a company blog, ‘Team Boxee’ said: “We started on this journey six years ago, and have been at the forefront of the changing TV and video […]
D-Smart, a division of media conglomerate Dogan Yayin Holdings, is set to bid for DigiTurk – Turkey’s Number 1 pay-TV broadcaster with around 5 million subscribers. DigiTurk is majority owned by Turkey’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund as compensation for an unpaid debt of $455 million owed by Cukurova Holdings . Providence Equity Partners owns 46 […]
Telecom Italia Media and Viacom International Media Networks have agreed the sale of its 51 per cent stake of MTV Italia to Viacom. Telecom Italia Media will receive €10 million, adjusted for working capital on closing but is effectively giving it away; as part of the transaction, Telecom Italia Media writes off debts from MTV Italia, […]
Yahoo has acquired Qwiki, the start-up behind an iPhone app that allows users to turn photos, music and videos into short movies automatically .Yahoo did not disclose the amount it paid to buy Qwiki, though AllThingsD report that the deal was valued between $40 million – $50 million. Yahoo said that it “will continue to […]
SES, Eutelsat and Inmarsat are all reportedly in the second round of bidding for 5 Optus satellites, placed up for sale by owners Singapore Telecom. Local reports in Australia suggest that at least some of the private equity bidders have dropped out of the process. However, private equity funds associated with Malaysia’s Measat are said […]
Leonard Blavatnik’s Perform Group is set to acquire sports data firm Opta for £40 million (€47m). The digital sports rights group, which owns assets including Goal.com and real-time data firm RunningBall, made a share placing to raise £115 million to fund the acquisition. Founded in 1996, Opta, which has clients including BSkyB, USA Today and […]
The city of Carouge in the canton of Geneva has sold its 51 per cent share in Télécarouge SA to upc cablecom. Switzerland’s largest provider of TV– which already held a 45 per cent share in Télécarouge. More and more municipalities and cities in Switzerland no longer consider investing in and maintaining their own telecommunications […]
Liberty Global owns 100 per cent of the Netherland’s cable operator UPC, but also owns 18.2 per cent of Holland’s other major cable company Ziggo. UPC has about 2.8 million homes on its nets while Ziggo’s footprint covers 4.2 million homes. Combined, they control around 40 per cent of the Dutch market, with telco KPN […]
In a move that further broadens its broadcast services portfolio and capabilities in the TV industry, Ericsson has announced its intention to acquire media services company Red Bee Media, from an entity controlled by Macquarie Advanced Investment Partners, L.P. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, supports Ericsson’s strategy to grow in the broadcast […]