Incumbent Slovak Telekom is considering acquiring Czech and Slovak DTH platform Skylink, according to local reports.
Slovak Telekom refused to comment on the report, referring to company policy.
Slovak Telekom is majority-owned by Deutsche Telekom,…
Incumbent Slovak Telekom is considering acquiring Czech and Slovak DTH platform Skylink, according to local reports.
Slovak Telekom refused to comment on the report, referring to company policy.
Slovak Telekom is majority-owned by Deutsche Telekom, which also controls T-Mobile Czech Republic. Reports suggest that if a transaction is conducted via DT, Slovak Telekom and T-Mobile Czech Republic would become the largest providers of satellite TV in their respective country.
T-Mobile Czech already uses the infrastructure of Skylink to operate its satellite service.
Rumours about a Skylink sale first emerged a month ago. A source told TelecomFinance at the time that Rothschild has been hired to advice on the transaction.
Reports explained at the time that the Slovak and the Czech operations could be divested separately. In Slovakia, the TV platform is operated by Towercom, while in the Czech Republic, it is controlled by TradeTec.
It had been estimated that the value of the deal could reach 4-5x EBIDTA, or Kc1bn (US$59m), speculation which was dismissed by TelecomFinance sources.
While a local newspaper claimed that Czech Republic-based J&T Finance Group indirectly controls Skylink, both Towercom and J&T have denied the claim.
But recent reports reiterated that J&T is the owner and quoted the firm saying that the time was right to exit its investment in Skylink.
Back in February, another Czech platform, CS Link, changed ownership after being reportedly acquired by Luxembourg-based satellite TV provider M7 Group. The latter launched a digital pay-TV service for the Austrian market in October last year.
In the Czech Republic, it was speculated last year that Skylink and CS Link, which both use the Astra 3a satellite at 23.5E, could merge their operations.
Besides these two DTH platforms, the country is also home to Digi TV, UPC Direct, and T-Mobile TV.
