Romanian telecom incumbent Romtelecom has signed an agreement to buy local DTH platform Akta Satelit from Digital Cable Systems (DCS). The deal comes just a couple of weeks after Romtelecom said it agreed to buy another Romanian DTH broadcaster,…
Romanian telecom incumbent Romtelecom has signed an agreement to buy local DTH platform Akta Satelit from Digital Cable Systems (DCS). The deal comes just a couple of weeks after Romtelecom said it agreed to buy another Romanian DTH broadcaster, insolvent Boom TV, for E7.32m plus VAT.
Romtelecom declined to provide further details and Akta could not be reached for comment.
In a statement, the company said that the transaction value would be determined by the number of Akta’s customers. Similarly, the final price for Boom TV will be dependent on the company proving that it has 95,000 subscribers and will fall by E80.08 per subscriber if numbers are shown to be lower.
These two deals, which still need to be approved by the Competition Council, will spark the much anticipated consolidation in the Romanian DTH market. Ther are currently five DTH platforms in the country at present – Digi TV (operated by Romania’s number one cableco RCS&RDS); Dolce Telecom (Romtelecom); Focus Sat (UPC Romania); Boom TV (DTH Television Group); and Akta (DCS).
According to reports, DCS, which was founded in 2005 following the merger of several cablecos, had 180,000 subscribers to its analogue and digital cable services by the end of 2010, while Akta had 70,000. DCS is controlled by AIG Capital Partners.
Greek incumbent OTE, which is controlled by Deutsche Telekom, holds 54.01% of Romtelecom, while the Romanian Ministry of Communications and Information Society holds the remaining 45.99%.
In December, the Ministry of Communications and Information Society told OTE that it planned to sell its stake in Romtelecom. Recently, OTE reportedly said that it was seeking an extension, until mid-April, from the Romanian authorities to present their offer for the ministry’s stake in the company.
In the meantime, Romtelecom may be looking to enter talks to acquire UPC Romania, the country’s second largest cableco, according to local media reports. Romtelecom declined to comment on this matter.
In late February, RCS&RDS was also reportedly close to acquiring UPC Romania for US$300m. Such a deal would create a telecom giant of about 10 million TV, internet, fixed and mobile phone subscribers.
Entrepreneur Zoltan Teszari, who owns 43% of RCS&RDS, was understood to have held talks with Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley to finance an acquisition of the group.
RCS&RDS has now reportedly expressed concerns about Romtelecom entering talks for UPC in order to boost the deal’s price and obtain more details about the transaction. But sources were quoted saying that Deutsche Telekom, which controls Romtelecom through OTE, would oppose a deal between the incumbent and UPC.
