The congested Polish DTH market is to be reduced to three major players following the merger of satellite broadcasters ‘n’ and Cyfra+.
The consolidation is the result of French pay-TV group Canal+ acquiring a minority stake in TVN, the Polish TV…
The congested Polish DTH market is to be reduced to three major players following the merger of satellite broadcasters ‘n’ and Cyfra+.
The consolidation is the result of French pay-TV group Canal+ acquiring a minority stake in TVN, the Polish TV broadcaster that is controlled by media investment firm ITI Group. Canal+ operates via Cyfra+ in Poland while ‘n’ is controlled by TVN.
The new platform will have approximately 2.5 million subscribers, making it the second largest satellite TV operator after Cyfrowy Polsat. TVN will retain a minority stake in the combined entity and no cash payment is expected from the group.
When contacted, the companies declined to comment on both the size and value of the stake in TVN that Canal+ is acquiring.
In a statement, ITI explained: “Canal+ is to acquire a significant minority stake in N-Vision, the parent company of Polish Television Holding (PTH), which in turn holds the 51% majority stake in TVN, whereby the Canal+ Group has been granted an option to acquire the remaining portion of the controlling stake in TVN over time from ITI Group.”
ITI currently holds a majority 56.21% stake in TVN, via its media investments PTH, N-Vision and Cadazin Trading & Investment.
In early July, ITI had announced that, along with its financial advisers JP Morgan and Nomura, it was reviewing its strategic options for its stake in TVN.
A person briefed on the matter told SatelliteFinance that Canal+ has hired Barclays and BoA Merrill Lynch to advise it on the transaction.
Poland is currently populated with four DTH platforms: Cyfrowy Polsat; Cyfra +; ‘n’; and TPSA, owned by France Telecom and Polish incumbent Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA).
SatelliteFinance understands that TPSA is currently migrating its customers to ‘n’, which means that the country should be left with two platforms by 2014.
The deal with TVN is another strategic transaction for Canal+, which is 80%-owned by media giant Vivendi, in just a few weeks. In early September, Canal+ announced it would buy a 60% stake in local rival Bolloré Media in a deal worth €279m (US$383m), as it looks to compete with the rapid increase in online television offerings.
