Telkom Indonesia, the country’s largest telecoms operator, has signed a conditional sales and purchase agreement with local conglomerate CT Corp for the joint control of DTH platform TelkomVision, according to a notice to the Indonesia Stock…
Telkom Indonesia, the country’s largest telecoms operator, has signed a conditional sales and purchase agreement with local conglomerate CT Corp for the joint control of DTH platform TelkomVision, according to a notice to the Indonesia Stock Exchange.
Telkom currently owns 100% of the pay-TV operator.
CT Corp, held by Indonesian billionaire Chairul Tanjung, is looking to acquire an 80% stake in the company for around US$100m, SatelliteFinance has confirmed.
The DTH company, which is advised by Morgan Stanley on the deal, had revenues of Rp405bn (US$41.3m) in 2012.
Telkom will be responsible for infrastructure at TelkomVision while CT Corp will act as content provider. The conglomerate currently focuses on financial services, media and natural resources.
There is some speculation that Telkom’s union might oppose the transaction, as it did in some of the company’s previous attempts to sell shares in affiliates. However, a person with knowledge of the situation said that such an eventuality is unlikely given the limited number of Telkom employees in the union.
Growth opportunities in the Indonesian DTH market, which is home to eight operators, are promising. According to Telkom, the penetration rate was only at 7% in 2012, compared with 83% in India, 81% in Singapore and 54% in China.
MNC SkyVision, the largest pay-TV company in Indonesia, last year listed 20% of its equity. Proceeds from the sale, which raised US$220m, will go towards funding the company’s capex this year.
