Portuguese cablenet ZON Multimedia is to launch a DTH satellite platform serving Angola following a share sale and purchase agreement with Kento Holding Limited.
The company, controlled by businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, has acquired 4.53% of ZON’s share capital at €5.3 per share, representing a 18.9% premium over the traded shareprice in the last three months. The shares had been acquired by ZON through a share buyback scheme.
ZON’s expansion into Angola comes through a 30% participation in a new joint venture with SOCIP (Sociedade de Investimentos e Participações S.A), a company wholly-owned by dos Santos.
The proposed satellite platform will take capacity on the Eutelsat W7 satellite launched on November 24. Negotiations are underway with a number of content providers that will include versions of ZON’s TVCine premium movie channels, four channels included in the Dreamia partnership with Chellomedia; Hollywood, Panda, Panda Biggs and MOV, and the premium sports channel SportTV.
ZON already runs a satellite platform in Portugal, serving as a gap-fill to its domestic cable network.
