Sony unit in the race to buy Taiwan TV firm
So-Net, the Internet unit of Japan’s Sony Corp, is among the parties interested in buying a Taiwan cable TV firm being sold by private equity firm MBK Partners, an official at the cable firm said on Thursday.
Earlier Taiwan’s Commercial Times newspaper said that So-Net was offering T$6 billion (USD 188 million) to buy the cable content firm, Gala TV. The paper said Sony was looking to push Japan’s acTVila Internet-based, on-demand TV portal into the Taiwan market.
“Sony is among many firms that have approached Gala,” the official said, giving no other details and adding that nothing had been finalised. The official declined to be identified.
So-Net in Tokyo declined to comment.
MBK has put on sale its Taiwan cable TV operations, the biggest of which is China Network Systems Co (CNS), which could fetch some USD 2 billion.
Taiwan’s cable market has among the highest profit margins in the region, some analysts estimate, which is the main appeal of the asset to many private equity funds.
Source:- Moneycontrol
