SK Telecom is reportedly negotiating a takeover offer for South Korea's second largest cable TV operator Tbroad, in a bid to enhance its competitiveness in the pay TV market.
The operator is in negotiations with Tbroad owner Taekwang Group over a deal to acquire Tbroad and merge it with subsidiary SK Broadband, the Korea Heraldreported, http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20190218000677 citing an unnamed official from the company.
Talks are still underway and the company is not yet sure how such a deal would pan out, according to the source.
The news comes hot on the heels of the announcement that LG Uplus plans to acquire control of South Korea's largest dedicated pay TV operator CJ Hellovision for 800 billion won ($710.3 million).
With a merger, LG Uplus would overtake SK Broadband as the company with the second largest share of the local pay TV market after KT Skylife.
While a merger with Tbroad would still leave SK Broadband in third place, the addition of around 7.6 million pay TV subscribers would close the gap significantly and leave the company in a significantly more competitive position in the pay TV market.
SK Telecom had originally planned to acquire a controlling stake of CJ Hellovision itself, but was forced to abandon this deal in 2016https://www.telecomasia.net/content/lg-uplus-aims-buy-control-cj-hellovision due to the decision by Korea's competition regulator to oppose the merger.