Polish TV broadcaster TVN has dismissed reports suggesting incumbent telco TPSA was looking to buy a stake in the pay-TV joint venture it is planning with DTH firm Canal+.
TVN is seeking regulatory approval to combine its DTH platform ‘n’ with…
Polish TV broadcaster TVN has dismissed reports suggesting incumbent telco TPSA was looking to buy a stake in the pay-TV joint venture it is planning with DTH firm Canal+.
TVN is seeking regulatory approval to combine its DTH platform ‘n’ with Canal+’s Cyfra+. Under the deal, which was submitted to regulators in January and could take 6-9 months to gain approval, TVN would take a 32% stake in the combined venture, with Vivendi-owned Canal+ taking 51%, and UPC, the cable company controlled by Liberty Global, taking the remaining 17% share.
However, TVN CEO Markus Tellenbach told journalists on 15 February that TPSA, which is owned by France Telecom, could also be looking to acquire a stake in the venture.
Tellenbach was cited saying TPSA had first expressed interest in the stake when the company signed a cooperation deal with TVN in 2010 on the joint sale of their products.
However, a TVN spokesman claimed these comments had been “taken out of context” by the reports.
He added there were no plans by the JV partners to sell a stake to TPSA, although all companies involved in the venture had the ability to do so via options in the next 3-4 years.
TPSA was unable to comment on the speculation, but reaffirmed the group’s commitment to its product partnership with TVN.
Under this partnership, TPSA provides broadband and communications services to customers of ‘n’. In return, ‘n’ is the main content delivery provider for TPSA.
TVN and Canal+’s proposed DTH merger, coupled with TPSA’s payTV delivery being increasingly handled by TVN, looks set to dramatically alter Poland’s DTH market over the next few years.
Indeed, the combined ‘n’/Cyfra+ entity is expected to have three million subscribers by 2015, when it is estimated to generate EBITDA in excess of PLN550m (US$160m). This would make it the second-largest satellite TV operator in Poland, after Cyfrowy Polsat.
Meanwhile, Canal+ is seeking to acquire 40% of TVN’s parent company N-Vision from Polish investment firm ITI Group for €230m (US$300m), in a transaction they expect to close in H2 2012. ITI Group, which will hold the remaining 60%, also has the option to sell an additional 9% stake in the company to Canal+ within the next two years.
ITI was advised by JP Morgan and Nomura, while Canal+ hired Barclays and BofA Merrill Lynch, SatelliteFinance understands.
Notably, last August, before the TVN/Canal+ DTH merger was announced, France Telecom CEO Stephane Richard was cited saying the French telco could consider partnering with another bidder to acquire a minority stake TVN.
