The long-awaited consolidation in Romania’s DTH market is finally under away, with Romtelecom signing an agreement to acquire Boom TV, the platform operated by the DTH Television Group.
Several local reports say that the telco has agreed to pay a minimum of €7.32 million plus VAT for Boom TV providing that it has 95,000 subscribers. Any reduction in this total will see the fee reduced accordingly by €80.08 per subscriber.
Romtelecom, which has already notified the Competition Council about its intention to buy Boom TV, came close to acquiring the platform two years ago but then pulled out of negotiations.
Assuming the deal goes ahead, Romtelecom will strengthen its position in the Romanian pay-TV sector, where it already operates DTH and IPTV operations, both under the Dolce brand name, that ended 2010 with 1,053,627 subscribers. It also has a growing cable business called NextGen.
Concerns are meanwhile mounting about the possible acquisition of UPC Romania by RCS&RDS.
Fears have been expressed about the dominant position the latter would assume following such a deal – it would leave RCS&RDS with over 4 million subscribers – though the competition authorities are of course unable to pass a judgement whilst it remains just speculation.
