SBS Broadcastng Completes Acquisition of Nordic Premium Pay Television Provider C More Group AB
March 08 2005 - 4:51AM
PR Newswire (US)
SBS Broadcastng Completes Acquisition of Nordic Premium Pay
Television Provider C More Group AB - SBS to Operate Canal+ and C
More Premium Pay Channels in Nordic Region - LUXEMBOURG, March 8
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SBS Broadcasting S.A. (Nasdaq: SBTV;
Euronext Amsterdam N.V.: SBS) announced today that it has completed
the previously announced acquisition of C More Group AB for Euro
269.6 million in cash. The purchase price includes approximately
Euro 20 million in cash in the C More Group at December 31, 2004.
The acquisition was cleared by the Swedish and Norwegian
competition authorities last week, allowing the transaction to be
completed earlier than initially anticipated. C More Group is the
leading Nordic pay television entertainment provider with over
770,000 subscribers in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. The
only provider of both premium sports and premium movies in the
Nordic region under the Canal+ and C More brands, C More Group
enjoys market leading positions in Sweden, Norway and Finland. The
channels are distributed primarily by direct-to-home satellite
(DTH), cable, broadband and increasingly by digital terrestrial
transmission (DTT). In 2004, C More Group had revenues of Euro 181
million from channel subscriptions and other sources. C More has
had positive net income for the last three years and has no
financial debt. The purchase price was financed in part with Euro
210 million borrowed from ABN Amro Bank under a Euro 300 million
six-month unsecured bridge facility with the remainder funded from
the Company's cash balances. The Company intends to repay the
bridge facility through a syndicated bank loan or by issuing debt
securities or both, subject to market conditions. SBS is a European
commercial television and radio broadcasting company with
operations in Western and Central Europe. Countries where SBS
currently has broadcasting assets include: Belgium (Flanders),
Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, The Netherlands, Norway, Romania
and Sweden. For further information visit:
http://www.sbsbroadcasting.com/, or contact: DATASOURCE: SBS
Broadcasting S.A. CONTACT: Investors - Michael Smargiassi, or Jon
Lesko of Brainerd Communicators, +1-212-986-6667; or Press - Jeff
Pryor of Pryor Associates, +1-818-338-3555; or Catriona Cockburn of
Citigate Dewe Rogerson, +44-207-282-2924, all for SBS Broadcasting
S.A. Web site: http://www.sbsbroadcasting.com/
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