France Télécom has completed the sale of the Dutch cable operator Casema in a deal worth €665 million. Providence Equity Partners and the Carlyle Group will each take a 46% share of the business with GMT owning the remaining 8%. Casema is the third largest cable television operator in the Netherlands and has approximately 1.3… Continue reading Casema Sold To Private Equity Groups

According to press reports, AOL Time Warner has sold its 8.4% stake in Hughes Electronics, the parent company of DirecTV. The Wall Street Journal claims that a $800 million deal has been brokered with the Bank of America which is expected to sell the shares on the open market. Hughes is a subsidiary of the… Continue reading AOL Sells Hughes Stake For $800 Million

A slow but steady improvement in sales continued throughout 2002 for outdoor contractor, Maiden Group, although turnover is not likely to achieve the levels anticipated at the release of the group’s financial results in September (see Maiden Pushed Into Red By Tough First Half). The recovery slowed significantly towards the end of 2002, with a… Continue reading Maiden Sees Good Start To 2003, But Demand Is Inconsistent

A merger of the cable firms Telewest and NTL will not take place for at least another year, according to a report in today’s Guardian. The newspaper claims that bondholders want both management teams to achieve operational targets before they provide more funds and support amalgamation. This will come as a surprise to many industry… Continue reading UK Cable Merger Put On Hold

The media sector has continued to feel the brunt of the plummeting stock market this week, with all but seven of the media companies listed in MediaTelINSIGHT Sharewatch showing falling prices yesterday. UK stocks have been falling for well over a week now as market uncertainties – particularly the spectre of war – cause company… Continue reading Continuing Share Falls Slash Media Company Values

As expected, Deutsche Telekom (DT) looks set to sell its cable assets to a consortium of financial investors for between â‚Ź1.7 billion and â‚Ź2.0 billion. The price range falls slightly short of the â‚Ź2.2 billion that DT had hoped to secure for the six regional cable franchises. The Financial Times today says that the deal… Continue reading Deutsche Telekom To Net

comScore Networks calculates that US online retail sales totalled $13.3 billion in the last quarter of 2002, a year on year increase of 23%. The figures, reported on eMarketer, do not include travel sales but tally with a survey taken just after Christmas which estimated holiday spending at more than $13.7 billion (see ECommerce Market… Continue reading Holiday Online Sales In Line With Expectations

Broadband continues to win hearts and minds in the UK with new findings from Oftel revealing that 84% of internet customers are now aware of high-speed services and their merits compared to just over 50% in February 2002. New subscribers to permanent connections were wholly responsible for the increase in internet connectivity during November (see… Continue reading UK Broadband Revolution Gathers Pace

Mobile operators are being optimistic if they expect multimedia messaging services (MMS) to be the elixir for the ills of the industry, says a new study by market researchers Datamonitor. The success of short message service (SMS) text messaging has encouraged operators to invest heavily in MMS and it is hoped that mobile data services… Continue reading MMS Study Brings Little Cheer To Operators

Digital TV homes in the UK have, on average, 3.1 sets, making the country more ‘television-centric’ than the US, says a report in New Media Markets. The research, carried out by consultants Understanding & Solutions in association with BBC Worldwide, found that there are 2.9 sets in the average US digital household while French digital… Continue reading UK Is More ‘Television-Centric’ Than US, Says Study