Advanced Television

M&A

Banijay and Zodiak Media agree merger

Banijay Group and Zodiak Media have agreed terms to unite their complementary catalogues and production units. With combined revenues of around $1 billion, the merger creates one of the world’s biggest independent production and distribution companies and the largest not controlled by a media group. Stéphane Courbit is set to be named Chairman and Marco […]

July 28, 2015

Analyst: ‘Technicolor did well’ in STB consolidation

According to a report from Futuresource Consulting, the recent €550 million acquisition by Technicolor of the Cisco set-top box and related home broadband equipment business, reflects a common trend in a shrinking, yet substantial, $20 billion global STB market place, claiming (at least) 13 per cent of the global STB market place and a combined […]

July 28, 2015

Prima TV eyes stake in Giglio Group

Italian media company Prima TV has expressed an interest in acquiring a stake in Italian channel producer Giglio Group, ahead of its listing on the Italian Stock Exchange. Giglio Group has been present in Italy for over 10 years with the channels Music Box, Yacht & Sail, Play.me, Acqua and, internationally, with the Nautical Channel […]

July 27, 2015From Branislav Pekic in Rome

AT&T completes DirecTV acquisition

US telco AT&T has completed its $48.5 billion (€44.2bn) acquisition of pay-TV provider DirecTV following the Federal Communications Commission’s approval – with conditions – of the deal. The FCC determined that granting the merger application was in the public interest. The newly-combined company will become the largest pay-TV provider in the United States and the […]

July 27, 2015By Colin Mann

Zegona buys Spain’s Telecable for €640m

Zegona – an operating company established in March 2015 with the objective of acquiring businesses in the European Telecommunications, Media and Technology sector – has reached agreement with global alternative asset manager, The Carlyle Group and Liberbank, to acquire Telecable de Asturias S.A., the leading quad-play telecommunications operator in Asturias, North West Spain, for an […]

July 27, 2015By Colin Mann

NextRadioTV, Altice partner for multimedia projects

Alain Weill, the Chairman, CEO, Founder and main shareholder of independent multimedia company NextRadioTV and Patrick Drahi, the Chairman and Founder of multinational cable, fibre, telecommunications, contents and media company Altice have signed a strategic partnership of their groups to invest in and to accelerate the development of multimedia projects in both France and other […]

July 27, 2015

Euskaltel buys R Cable

In a further consolidation of the Spanish cable market, Basque Country-based operator Euskaltel has bought Galician R Cable for €1.155 billion to create a large regional cable group in the north of Spain – with the companies retaining their own brands – with a network of 725,000 km and over 715,000 subscribers. Euskaltel has offered […]

July 24, 2015From David Del Valle in Madrid

Technicolor buys Cisco CPE for €550m

In a move that it says creates a global leader in customer premises equipment (CPE), Technicolor is buying Cisco’s CPE business for €550 million in cash and stock. Technicolor says the deal will see its Connected Home business achieve adjusted EBITDA in excess of €200 million in 2016. The move signals further consolidation of the sector following ARRIS’s acquisition […]

July 23, 2015By Colin Mann

Discovery takes full control of Eurosport

Discovery Communications is to acquire full ownership of sports broadcaster Eurosport for €491 million from TF1 Group, which has announced it will exercise a put option on its 49 per cent ownership stake as part of the companies’ previous 2012 agreement. “Discovery Communications is excited to expand and deepen our investment in Eurosport as we […]

July 23, 2015

Cartesian buys Farncombe

Consulting services Cartesian is set to acquire Farncombe Technology. Farncombe specialises in digital TV services and offers high-calibre technical and strategy consulting, implementation services, content security, and testing. Founded in the early 1990s, the company has a global 100-plus client roster, which includes leading service providers, broadcasters, platform operators, and technology firms. Farncombe’s team of […]

July 23, 2015