Several bidders, including French media group Vivendi, US giant Liberty Global and a number of private equity firms are rumoured to be eyeing a stake in Turkish pay TV platform Digiturk, SatelliteFinance understands.
As previously reported, US private…
Several bidders, including French media group Vivendi, US giant Liberty Global and a number of private equity firms are rumoured to be eyeing a stake in Turkish pay TV platform Digiturk, SatelliteFinance understands.
As previously reported, US private equity firm Providence Equity Partners has been in talks with bidders for its 47% stake in Digiturk. A source familiar with the situation said, back in October, that the firm is “entertaining get-to-know- you type meetings with third parties”, although “there is not a typical formal sale process underway”.
At the time, PE groups Apax, BC Partners, Carlyle and Blackstone were reportedly conducting due diligence for the group, which is valued at around US$2bn. Media giants Time Warner and News Corp were also allegedly looking at the stake.
Contrary to some reports, SatelliteFinance understands Morgan Stanley is not advising Providence on its options.
Providence acquired the stake in January 2006 from Turkish diversified holding company Cukurova, which currently owns the rest of Digiturk, for US$250m. In November 2007, the US private equity firm sought to sell 27.5% of this through an IPO.
Plans to list part of Digiturk later fell through due to a weak market, but at the time the 27.5% stake was estimated at US$550m, valuing Digiturk entirely at US$2.2bn.
In April last year Digiturk won exclusive rights to broadcast the Turkish Super League, Turkey’s local football tournament.
The same month also saw the company secure a lease renewal agreement with Eutelsat for 12 transponders at the 7E orbital hotspot through to 2021.
