Advanced Television

TIMedia rejects DTT bids

January 16, 2015

From Branislav Pekic in Rome

Telecom Italia Media (TIMedia) has judged the bids for its 70 per cent stake in DTT network operator Persidera ((formerly Telecom Italia Media Broadcasting) as “unsatisfactory”, adding that the sale of assets is not feasible at this stage.

The Board of TIMedia also said that developments at Persidera are “not in line with expectations” and, therefore, the company will need to focus on completing the process of operational integration of Rete A in order to increase synergies.

Although TIMedia originally said that there were several expressions of interst for Persidera, local reports claim that only Italian private equity fund Clessidra submitted a bid that ended up being far below the expected €500 million price tag. According to initial plans, the sales operation should have been closed by the end of 2014.

Persidera was created in June last year from the merger of the three multiplexes owned by TIMedia and the two belonging to L’Espresso group (which owns the remaining 30 per cent of Persidera) through Rete A. Persidera is the third largest national DTT network operator in Italy, after RaiWay and EI Towers.

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, DTT/DSO