Orange could be set to enter the Moldovan TV market by buying the country’s largest cable operator.
Quoting three unnamed sources – a leading manager at a telco, the head of an advertising agency and head of a major Moldovan TV channel – Newsmaker and AKTR report that Orange-Moldova is in talks to buy Sun Communications.
They add that while Orange-Moldova has refused to comment on a possible deal, a source close to Sun Communications confirmed that talks had been taking place between the two parties for some time. Meanwhile, Aleksandr Sirbu, the president of Sun Communications, refused to confirm or deny the possible transaction.
Orange-Moldova is the leading mobile operator in Moldova and its parent company already has TV interests in three other CEE markets, namely Poland, Slovakia and Romania.
Meanwhile, Sun Communications was established in 1994 and currently has around 99,000 pay-TV subscribers, claiming a market share of 37.2%.
Its main owner is the British Virgin Islands-registered Lekert Management Ltd (63.7%), with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) among the minority shareholders.