Telenor Group and Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT Group) announced the formation of a new company that combines Canal Digital and Viasat Consumer (satellite pay-TV & broadband-TV operations).
This will create a vibrant Nordic TV distribution business and capture synergies in a maturing direct-to-home (DTH) segment. Telenor and NENT Group will each hold 50 percent of the new company.
The combination generates a Nordic player with combined net sales of approximately NOK 7 billion and around 1.25 million subscribers (Q2 2019). The combination is expected to yield peak annual cost synergies of approximately NOK 600 million, with full effect from 2022. Integration and other related costs are expected to total approximately NOK 830 million.
The company will be headquartered in both Oslo and Stockholm, and will also have a substantial presence in Copenhagen. The joint venture will operate at arm’s length to its parents. The Nordic consumer offering will focus on satellite distributed pay-TV (DTH) and streaming services, as well as IPTV on open fibre networks, and will continue to develop market-leading TV distribution services.
Jorgen C. Arentz Rostrup, CFO, Telenor Group
There is a compelling business rationale behind combining the DTH operations of Canal Digital and Viasat Consumer, with large synergies to be captured within areas including transponder capacity, IT and opex.
Anders Jensen, President and CEO, NENT Group
We are creating a large-scale TV operator that will create sustainable value for customers and owners, and be able to compete with large scale regional and local competitors.