StarTimes, a China-based technology company with operations in Africa, has bought a 20% stake in South African satellite TV network TopTV, preventing it from being liquidated.
The offer includes paying off creditors and restructuring the company….
StarTimes, a China-based technology company with operations in Africa, has bought a 20% stake in South African satellite TV network TopTV, preventing it from being liquidated.
The offer includes paying off creditors and restructuring the company. According to local reports, TopTV’s creditors, which are predominantly content providers such as Disney, Warner and Fox International, are owed approximately R1.4bn (US$156m).
In October last year, On Digital Media, the parent company of TopTV launched a business rescue plan after losing subscribers and facing rising content costs.
Both the Dynamic TV consortium, which is understood to include South Africa’s largest DTH broadcaster MultiChoice, and Kenyan pay-TV operator Wananchi Group, had also expressed interest in acquiring the TopTV stake.
But the shareholders of the satellite TV company – including SES (20%), the National Empowerment Fund (10%), and the Industrial Development Corp (11.3%) – voted overwhelmingly (99.3%) for the StarTimes’ firm offer, which had completed due diligence.
The acquisition marks StarTimes’ first foray into the South African market. It is already present in Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Central African Republic, Guinea and Kenya, where it provides digital TV services.
