New owner for Portugal’s Nowo and Oni
October 4, 2018
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Three years after being sold by Altice, Portuguese operators Nowo and Oni will once again change ownership.
Their current owner, Apax Partners, has reached an agreement with US-based investment fund KKR for the sale of Cabolink, the holding company of the two operators.
The agreement will enter into force upon receiving the go-ahead from Portugal’s Competition Authority (AdC), which has already been notified.
The AdC has given a 10-day period for any interested party to submit comments on “the concentration concerned”.
The sale of cable TV operator Nowo (formerly Cabovisão) and Oni, a telecom services provider to business customers, by Altice was an imposition by the EU to authorise the purchase of PT Portugal.
Although Nowo is one of the smaller players on the pay-TV distribution market in Portugal, it has recently gained importance following the signing of a carriage deal with Eleven Sports for its premium sports TV channels.