The sale of Modern Times Group’s Hungarian commercial channels Viasat3 and Viasat6, along with Viasat Play, to Sony Pictures Television (SPT) is likely to be one of several important M&As in Central and Eastern Europe this year.
Already this month we have seen an ownership change in Ukraine, with Inter, one of the country’s leading broadcasters, coming under the full control of a group belonging to the entrepreneur Dmitry Firtash.
Meanwhile, in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the Film+ channel was sold by the IKO Media Group to AMC Networks International – Central Europe (AMCNI-CE) for an undisclosed fee.
Now, all eyes are on the upcoming sale of a majority (51%) stake in the Polish national commercial broadcaster TVN, with a deal likely to be announced by the end of this month.
TVN has posted good financial results in the run-up to its sale. It has also embarked on an expansion programme, launching a new international channel (iTVN Extra) at the beginning of this month, with three others – TVN Fabula, TVN Sportive and TVN Activ – in the pipeline.
Although the regulator KRRiT has just stepped into the picture by outlining the terms under which TVN can be sold, it seems increasingly likely that the station will be acquired to a leading international group such as Time Warner or Discovery Communications. If it is the former, it will mark a return of sorts to Poland for the company, now the main backer of CME, which launched TVN with the ITI Group in the mid-1990s before exiting in the country.
One of the most interesting things about the Modern Times Group/Sony deal in Hungary is that it took many in the industry by surprise. While MTG’s problems in Russia are well documented and still very much under the spotlight, it has until now appeared to be “business as usual” for its interests elsewhere in the region.
Given what has already happened in just the first few weeks of 2015, we can safely assume there will be more M&As, some major, in CEE over the coming months.
