Formosa Plastics Group has entered an agreement to purchase Swedish private equity group EQT Partners' 95% stake in Taiwanese cable network Gala Television Corp (Gala TV). The financial terms of the acquisition deal were not disclosed, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
The deal is still subject to Taiwan's regulatory approval. This will be Formosa Plastics' second time to buy a stake in Gala TV. The Taiwanese conglomerate had acquired a 23% holding in the same firm in 2002. The said stake was later on sold to MBK in 2009, the report detailed.
According to the National Communications Commission, Taiwan's number of local channels has experienced a threefold increase recently to reach 164. This is largely due to the country's shift from analog to digital broadcast. Although tight competition has lowered subscription fees, Taiwan still has one of the highest pay-TV penetration rate in Asia, the report explained.
Gala TV has four channels which it owns and runs. EQT Partners said the network sales plunged 6% to $68.4 million last year compared to 2012, WSJ reported.
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