Soros buys Brazil pay-TV
June 4, 2012
Geoprge Soros, the billionaire hedge fund investor, is to take control of Sunrise Telecomunicaçoes, a local pay-TV company in São Paulo.
Anatel, Brazil’s telecoms regulator, said it had given permission for Soros Fund Management to take over the operator ahead of a key auction of broadcast licences this month. Soros is said to be planning to make a $250 million investment in the company, which operates in 12 regions in the state of São Paulo.
The investment by the Soros fund comes as Brazil is preparing to hold an auction of fourth-generation mobile spectrum this month. Successful bidders in the auction will have to be able to offer advanced wireless services in six host cities for football’s Confederations Cup by April next year, ahead of the Fifa World Cup soccer final in 2014. The successful bidders will need to roll out services for all 12 host cities by the World Cup.