Australia’s competition regulator has delayed its decision on whether the A$1.9 billion Foxtel acquisition of regional pay-TV provider Austar should be allowed to proceed. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said the announcement – which was planned for Wednesday – had been delayed ‘‘at the request of Foxtel to allow it to make further […]
Mediaset has put in a joint bid for Endemol, the indebted Dutch TV producer behind Big Brother, together with Clessidra, the Italian private equity group. Mediaset already owns approximately one-third of Endemol. A deal could still be months away as Endemol is going through a large restructuring of its €2.8 billion net debt following a […]
Canada’s Cogeco Cable has reportedly decided to sell its Portuguese cable TV and broadband/telephone operation, Cabovisao. The cable operator, according to the Lusa news agency has invited “expressions of interest” from other international operators and private equity investors. Lusa says some conversations have already started and are well advanced. Cogeco has controlled the business since […]
Microsoft has paid $70 million to buy VideoSurf, the online video search technology company. Founded in 2006, VideoSurf offers a back-end computer vision technology that “sees” frames inside videos to make discovering content fast, easy and accurate. Over time, Microsoft will integrate this technology across its entertainment platform to augment the Xbox 360 ecosystem and […]
Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has bought 3.2 per cent of Spanish media conglomerate Prisa (Promotora de Informaciones). Slim used his Grupo Carso’s investment arm (Immobilaria Carso SA) as the acquisition vehicle. Prisa’s share price has fallen dramatically by more than 50 per cent this year, although on November 18th they rose 12 per cent on […]
Canal Plus pay- television unit is reserving the right not to go ahead with a planned purchase of a 34 per cent stake in France Telecom SA’s Orange Cinema Series channels, Le Figaro reports. Canal Plus has a clause allowing it to pull out if conditions imposed by French or European regulators are deemed too […]
French international media conglomerate Vivendi has dismissed rumours that it is considering the sale of its Universal Music division after its £1.2 billion (€1.4bn) acquisition of EMI’s recorded music division, and has confirmed its commitment to its telco and content assets. “We haven’t grown Universal Music with two major transactions [its takeover of Bertelsmann’s music […]
The second consolidation move in the Spanish cable market is under way. Following the recent sale of Telecable, in the north of Spain to The Carlyle Group, now Euskatel, the second largest cable company behind ONO, is also moving with the consolidation tide. Savings banks BBK and Kutxa, owners of more than 60 per cent […]
Canal Plus is expected to complete its due diligence of Polish broadcaster TVN within weeks, ahead of a planned merger of the two companies’ pay-TV units, TVN Chief Executive Markus Tellenbach told a press conference. The companies have yet to determine the proportion of stakes each will get in the merged pay-TV firm, he added. […]
Kabel BW, which Liberty Global wants to buy for €3.16 billion has reported nine-month adjusted earnings rose 15 per cent as customers bought more pay-TV and Internet services. EBITDA rose to €268.1 million from €232.5 million a year earlier, the company said. Liberty Global is waiting for Germany’s antitrust regulator to decide by December 15th […]