Advanced Television

M&A

Telefónica closes Canal Plus acquisition

Spain’s Telefónica has formally completed the purchase of a 56 per cent stake in pay-TV platform Canal Plus following clearance from competition authority CNMC two weeks previously. Telefónica will ultimately pay €707 million for the stakes, out of which €565.4 million has already been paid to Canal Plus. The telco now controls 100 per cent […]

May 5, 2015From David Del Valle in Madrid

EE Q1 down as BT takeover nears

EE, the UK’s biggest mobile phone operator, saw its operating revenue decline 1.1 per cent to £1.469 billion in the first quarter. The drop follows a 1.4 per cent fall in operating revenue in 2014. BT is due to acquire EE as soon as the £12.5 billion deal receives regulatory approval. BT will buy out […]

April 28, 2015

Comcast drops Time Warner merger

Comcast has pulled its $45 billion bid for Time Warner Cable after failing to convince regulators that a deal that would have been beneficial the US media and Internet landscape. The end to the 14-month attempt to combine the two largest US cable and Internet providers came after comms regulator the FCC recommended a lengthy procedural […]

April 24, 2015

Telefónica-Canal Plus takeover approved

The acquisition by Telefónica of a 56 per cent stake in pay-TV platform Canal Plus has been approved by Spanish competition authority CNMC, albeit with several conditions. Telefónica will have to open up 50 per cent of its premium TV content to other operators with exclusive TV rights to sports (football) and cinema and TV […]

April 24, 2015From David Del Valle in Madrid

ARRIS buys Pace for $2.1bn

In a further consolidation of the broadband and pay-TV technology sector, ARRIS is buying Pace for $2.1 billion (€1.96 billion) in cash and stock. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to ARRIS Non-GAAP earnings per share in the first 12 months following the acquisition. Arris acquired the Motorola Home business from Motorola Mobility in […]

April 23, 2015

Telenet to buy KPN unit for €1.3bn

Cable telecoms company Liberty Global’s Belgian subsidiary Telenet has agreed to buy local mobile network operator Base from Dutch group KPN for €1.325 billion. For Liberty Global, Europe’s biggest cable operator, the acquisition marks a departure in strategy, having said in the past that it is not interested in buying or building its own mobile […]

April 20, 2015

Comcast-TWC hope to assure DoJ

Comcast and Time Warner Cable meet with the US Justice Department this week to try allay antitrust concerns of officials about their merger. The $45 billion deal would give Comcast-TWC control of about a third of US pay-TV and broadband markets. Some consumer groups and content providers have come out strongly against the deal, arguing […]

April 20, 2015

Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent merge

Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent have announced their intention to combine to create an innovation leader in next generation technology and services for an IP connected world. The two companies have entered into a memorandum of understanding under which Nokia will make an offer for all of the equity securities issued by Alcatel-Lucent, through a public exchange […]

April 15, 2015

ARRIS, Charter acquire ActiveVideo

ARRIS Group and Charter Communications have established a joint venture that has agreed to acquire ActiveVideo for approximately $135 million. ARRIS will own 65 per cent of the joint venture company and will be the sales channel for ActiveVideo’s CloudTV platform. Closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the second quarter, subject to […]

April 14, 2015

Nokia, Acatel-Lucent confirm merger plan

Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent confirmed they are in talks for a potential merger. The merger would take the form of a public bid by Nokia for Alcatel-Lucent. Further details of the negotiations were not disclosed. While Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent are similar in size in terms of annual sales, Nokia has a market capitalisation of nearly three […]

April 14, 2015