A few weeks after French pay-TV group Canal+ announced it would acquire a minority stake in Polish TV broadcaster TVN, the two companies are currently finalising the merger of their respective DTH platforms, Cyfra+ and ‘n’.
The transaction will…
A few weeks after French pay-TV group Canal+ announced it would acquire a minority stake in Polish TV broadcaster TVN, the two companies are currently finalising the merger of their respective DTH platforms, Cyfra+ and ‘n’.
The transaction will allow the crowded Polish DTH market to be left with only two players within the next few years.
The combination of Cyfra+ and ‘n’ will be 51%-owned by Canal+, 32% by TVN and 17% by UPC, the European cable company controlled by Liberty Global.
Markus Tellenbach, the CEO of TVN, will become CEO of the merged entity, while Beata Monka will be deputy CEO. She is the current CEO of Cyfra+.
If Canal+ – which itself is controlled by media giant Vivendi – fails to exercise its option to purchase the 32% stake within the next four years, TVN has been granted liquidity rights in the form of an IPO.
By 2015, the combined DTH platform is expected to reach 3 million customers and EBITDA in excess of PLN550m (US$160m), making it the second largest satellite TV operator after Cyfrowy Polsat.
Poland is populated with four DTH platforms: Cyfrowy Polsat; Cyfra +; ‘n’; and TPSA, owned by France Telecom and Polish incumbent Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA).
But SatelliteFinance understands that TPSA is currently migrating its customers to ‘n’, which means that the country should be left with two platforms by 2014.
Besides the Cyfra+ / ‘n’ merger, Canal+ is also in the process of acquiring a 40% stake in N-Vision, the parent company of TVN, for €230m (US$300m).
Polish media investment firm ITI Group, which will control the remaining 60% of N-Vision, has the option to sell an additional 9% stake in the company to Canal+ within the next two years.
“Canal+ Group has granted a €120m [US$156m] loan to ITI Group as an advance payment to be reimbursed by compensation against the acquisition price at closing. Funds are to be used by ITI group for the buyout of a 33% ITI Group stake from members of the Wejchert family.”
The transaction is expected to close during the second half of 2012. ITI was advised by JP Morgan and Nomura while Canal+ hired Barclays and BofA Merrill Lynch, SatelliteFinance understands.
