Reliance Communications (RCom) announced it will acquire India’s largest cable TV company Digicable, becoming the largest triple play service provider in Asia.
The Indian broadband, wireless and long-haul telco said Thursday it has agreed to acquire pan-Indian cable MSO Digicable in an all-stock deal.
New entity Reliance Digicom, which will house RCom’s DTH, IPTV and retail broadband operations as well as Digicable, will have an estimated value of $1 billion, said Indian Television.
RCom’s stake in Reliance Digicom was not disclosed, but the Economic Times earlier put this at 60%, with Digicom investors –including private equity firm Ashmore – to hold the remaining interest.
Reliance Digicom will be “Asia’s largest and the world’s fifth largest company to offer the full-suite of triple play services – digital TV, ultra high-speed broadband and voice,” the company said.
The new unit would have “a combined subscriber base” of 11 million.