Four groups are still racing for the assets of Telecom Italia Media that are up for sale, according to Italian newspapers. Cairo Communications, 3 Italia, owned by China’s Hutchison Whampoa, Germany’s RTL of the Bertelsmann Group and the US’s Discovery Channel will submit non-binding bids before today’s deadline. The offers will be then examined by […]
Hong Kong-based AsiaSat is to sell off its broadband-by-satellite division Speedcast. Launched in 1999 SpeedCast has used AsiaSat satellite capacity to serve more than thirty Asian countries with broadband connectivity. TA Associates, a private equity firm, is financing the buyout. Terms were not revealed. SpeedCast says it has some 150 retail and wholesale partners, and […]
Canada’s MDA Corp has received another approval for its plan to buy satellite builder Space Systems/Loral. The latest stage sees MDA notified by the US Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) that CFIUS had concluded its review of the proposed purchase of Space Systems/Loral, Inc. (“SS/L”) by a subsidiary of MDA and […]
DirecTV is considering a bid for Brazilian telecom company Global Village Telecom (GVT), according to Bloomberg. GVT is owned by the French media and telecoms conglomerate Vivendi, but the owners have plans to offload the company and have drawn up a list of interested parties which will reportedly be given access to the Brazilian asset’s […]
The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of EMI’s recorded music business by Universal Music Group. The approval is conditional upon the divestment of EMI’s Parlophone label and numerous other music assets on a worldwide level. The Commission had concerns that the transaction, as initially notified, would have allowed […]
Cable MSO Liberty Global is seeking to acquire the shares and access to voting rights that it does not already own or that are not held by Belgian cable operator Telenet. It is intending to launch a voluntary and conditional cash offer for the outstanding shares and other securities giving access to voting rights. Liberty […]
Chellomedia, the international content division of Liberty Global, has acquired full ownership of Cosmo TV, the Latin American channel previously run as a joint venture with Hearst Corporation. Cosmo TV Latin America is a 24-hour channel offering movies, series and lifestyle programming for young women in Spanish-speaking Latin America. The channel was launched in March […]
Less than one week before the deadline for the submission of non-binding bids, Italian commercial broadcaster Mediaset has pulled out of the bidding to acquire the TV assets of Telecom Italia Media. In a reaction to press speculation, Mediaset issued a statement in which it formally rules itself out of the race, revealing that such […]
France’s broadcasting regulator, the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA), has authorised the sale of Direct 8 and Direct Star, previously owned 100 per cent by the Bolloré group, to the Canal+ Group. The decision follows what Canal+ describes as intense dialogue with the CSA, with the broadcaster accepting a number of undertakings aimed at protecting […]
Mediaset is reportedly interested in buying rival TV channel La7 and its broadcasting infrastructure. According to local reports, Mediaset is close to reaching a decision whether to submit a bid for the branch of Telecom Italia Media that controls national broadcaster La7 and MTV Italia. Another ten parties are also in the running including Italy’s […]