dishkiller
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Reports have emerged that all Jagjit Singh's MSO Company - DigiCable is up for sale. The owners of DigiCable, Jagjit Singh Kohli, Yogesh Shah and private equity investor Ashmore Investment Management, have appointed investment banker IDFC Capital to seek bids for a sale or merger with another MSO. Jagjit Singh Kohli is DigiCable's Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer.
Private Equity firm Ashmore Investment owns 49% stake in Broadband Pacenet India, which controls 51% of DigiCable, and 49% stake in DigiCable ending up its ownership to 74%. The rest is held by real estate developer Stellar Holdings, owned by promoters.
Established in 2007, DigiCable has about 8.7 million subscribers and offers digital feeds of 500 TV channels on its platform. It has a strong presence in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
According to unconfirmed reports, DigiCable has been approached by 4 leading National level MSOs - Den Networks, Hathway Cable & Datacom, Hinduja-owned InCableNet and Zee Grouppromoted Wire & Wireless India (WWIL). However, talks appear to be exploratory only, at this juncture, and all players involved, including DigiCable have refused to confirm the rumours.
In 2010, Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications (RCom), had issued a statement that it planned to merge DigiCable with itself in an all-stock deal to create a larger company Reliance DigiCom, which would provide Direct-To-Home (DTH), Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) and broadband services. "The digital TV and broadband space is poised for an explosive growth. With this gamechanging move, we hope to lead the next revolution in digital home entertainment in India, by offering a world class TV experience and ultra high-speed broadband capability to a billion people," RCom chairman and managing director Anil Ambani had said after the deal was made public.
Like the earlier deal, the current offers by MSOs to DigiCable excludes the payment of any hard cash. DigiCable would only receive equity in the merged entity, make the deal, strictly a merger rather than a buy-out.
The merger if successful will add significant subscriber numbers to any existing MSO. This in turn would help negotiate better Pay Channel rates, under the new DAS regime. The law caps Digital Pay Channel rates @ 42% of the analog Pay Channel Rates. However with large subscriber bases like DTH platforms, Pay Channels have discounted their rates down to 10% to 15% of the analog rates. Larger numbers will help MSOs negotiate even lower rates.
Will DigiCable find a taker this time around
:angry:angry:angry:angry:angry:angry:angry:angry:angry:angry:angry
Private Equity firm Ashmore Investment owns 49% stake in Broadband Pacenet India, which controls 51% of DigiCable, and 49% stake in DigiCable ending up its ownership to 74%. The rest is held by real estate developer Stellar Holdings, owned by promoters.
Established in 2007, DigiCable has about 8.7 million subscribers and offers digital feeds of 500 TV channels on its platform. It has a strong presence in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
According to unconfirmed reports, DigiCable has been approached by 4 leading National level MSOs - Den Networks, Hathway Cable & Datacom, Hinduja-owned InCableNet and Zee Grouppromoted Wire & Wireless India (WWIL). However, talks appear to be exploratory only, at this juncture, and all players involved, including DigiCable have refused to confirm the rumours.
EARLIER RCOMM-DIGICABLE DEAL
In 2010, Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications (RCom), had issued a statement that it planned to merge DigiCable with itself in an all-stock deal to create a larger company Reliance DigiCom, which would provide Direct-To-Home (DTH), Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) and broadband services. "The digital TV and broadband space is poised for an explosive growth. With this gamechanging move, we hope to lead the next revolution in digital home entertainment in India, by offering a world class TV experience and ultra high-speed broadband capability to a billion people," RCom chairman and managing director Anil Ambani had said after the deal was made public.
MERGER NOT BUY OUT ?
Like the earlier deal, the current offers by MSOs to DigiCable excludes the payment of any hard cash. DigiCable would only receive equity in the merged entity, make the deal, strictly a merger rather than a buy-out.
The merger if successful will add significant subscriber numbers to any existing MSO. This in turn would help negotiate better Pay Channel rates, under the new DAS regime. The law caps Digital Pay Channel rates @ 42% of the analog Pay Channel Rates. However with large subscriber bases like DTH platforms, Pay Channels have discounted their rates down to 10% to 15% of the analog rates. Larger numbers will help MSOs negotiate even lower rates.
Will DigiCable find a taker this time around
:angry:angry:angry:angry:angry:angry:angry:angry:angry:angry:angry
