As expected, it looks as though News Corp is all set to acquire Italian pay-TV group Telepiù, in a deal worth E1.5 billion, according to reports. The deal would see Rupert Murdoch’s media empire become the sole pay-TV operator in Italy, according to a report in the Financial Times.
At the end of last month there was speculation that Murdoch might be interested in the Vivendi-owned business (see
Murdoch May Acquire Telepi), after its planned merger with rival pay-TV platform Stream was abandoned (see
Vivendi’s Telepi). Stream is itself 50% owned by News Corp, with the remaining 50% controlled by Telecom Italia.
Analysts at ABN Amro say that a merger of the two platforms – or the closure of one of them – is inevitable if they are ever to reach profitability. Vivendi is thought to be losing up to E1 million per day at Telepiù.
The deal is still subject to approval from the Italian anti-trust authorities, whose restrictions on the Stream/Telepiù deal led to its eventual collapse. If the acquisition goes ahead, News Corp will limit its ownership to 50% and Italian investors will be sought to take the remainder, according to analysts at ABN Amro.
