Advanced Television

M&A

Kudelski not interested in selling OpenTV stake

The 'round robin' on the OpenTV non-takeover by its biggest shareholder continues. The Kudelski Group, has commented on Discovery Group's recommendation that OpenTV buys out Kudelski Group's stake in OpenTV: "The Kudelski Group confirms that it is not interested in selling its shares of OpenTV…Kudelski Group reiterates its commitment to remain OpenTV's controlling shareholder and […]

June 12, 2009

Kudelski not interested in selling OpenTV stake

The 'round robin' on the OpenTV non-takeover by its biggest shareholder continues. The Kudelski Group, has commented on Discovery Group's recommendation that OpenTV buys out Kudelski Group's stake in OpenTV: "The Kudelski Group confirms that it is not interested in selling its shares of OpenTV…Kudelski Group reiterates its commitment to remain OpenTV's controlling shareholder and […]

June 12, 2009

Discovery: OpenTV should buy out Kudelski

Discovery Group, the largest independent shareholder of OpenTV, has sent a letter to the Board of Directors proposing that OpenTV offer to repurchase Kudelski Group's 32 per cent economic stake for $1.35 per share. Discovery's recommendation follows Kudelski's failed attempt to take full ownership of OpenTV. Discovery points to recent disclosures by Kudelski that suggest […]

June 12, 2009

Kudelski view on OpenTV bid

Kudelski Group has been talking about its bid for the share in Open TV it doesn't already own which Open rejected as inadequate. “Based on Kudelski’s discussions with [OpenTV’s] Special Committee, Kudelski has concluded that continued discussions will not be fruitful and has therefore decided to withdraw its proposal and terminate discussions with the Special […]

June 5, 2009

TBC stake up for sale

An important stake in one of Taiwan's leading cable operators has been put up for sale by some of the company's foreign owners. Taiwan Broadband Communications is owned by a consortium made up of two investment funds linked to Australia's Macquarie Group and Intermediate Capital Group, a London-based provider of debt finance. According to reports, […]

June 5, 2009

OpenTV rejects Kudelski buyout

OpenTV’s board of directors has rejected the bid by Kudelski SA to acquire it as “inadequate.” Kudelski, which owns a 26.7 per cent stake and holds 74.7 per cent of the voting rights in OpenTV, in February offered to buy the rest of OpenTV’s share at $1.35 per share in cash. Stock closed at $1.74 […]

June 3, 2009

Sky's trump bid on Virgin channels

Sky has reportedly tabled a £160m (E183m) bid to buy Virgin Media’s seven digital TV channels – this is said to be 60% more than any offer made by rival bidders including Channel 4, RTL, Time Warner and NBC Universal. The seven channels are Living, Living Two, Bravo, Bravo Two, Challenge, Challenge Jackpot and Virgin1. […]

June 1, 2009

Virgin for Playboy?

In a bizarre juxtaposition of brand names, Virgin Media's Richard Branson is said to be mulling a bid for Private Media, owner of the Playboy brand. A number of PE firms have reportedly balked at Playboy Enterprises' $300 million asking price, but Richard Branson's name has been increasingly mentioned as a prospective buyer. The company […]

May 28, 2009

Time Warner to spin off AOL

Time Warner is close to spinning off all of its AOL Internet business, according to several reports. Although a decision has not been finalised, executives prefer spinning off the whole division rather than a part. Since Microsoft launched a bid to take over Yahoo last year, Time Warner has attempted to find potential combinations of […]

May 28, 2009

Cuatro-La Sexta’s merger close

From David Del Valle in Madrid Approval last week of new legislation that allows TV cross-ownership has paved the way for a planned merger between the Spanish commercial channels Sogecable-controlled Cuatro and La Sexta. Both companies have been negotiating over the last weeks to set up a holding group that would encompass the two channels […]

May 27, 2009