Silver Eagle Acquisition Corp., which was founded by Harry Sloan and Jeff Sagansky, has announced that it is moving into the India market by taking a major stake in Videocon d2h.
As part of a transaction agreement signed on Dec. 31, 2014 and made public on Jan. 5 Silver Eagle has agreed to invest $300 million to $375 million for a 33.5% to 38.6% of the Indian DTH provider. The actual cash invested will depend on the number of shareholders who agree to redeem shares.
The deal will result in the first public listing of an Indian pay TV operator in the U.S., the companies say.
India is one of the world’s fastest growing pay TV market.
Videocon d2h currently has a subscriber base of about 11.8 million with a market share of 16.5% of the Indian DTH marketplace, where it is distributed over 500 digital television channels and other video and audio services.
It is part of the global conglomerate Videocon Group which has diversified interests in consumer electronics, oil and gas, power, retail and insurance, among others.
In a statement accompanying the announcement, Sloan said that “we created Silver Eagle for the purpose of finding a fast-growing media opportunity which is taking full advantage of the digital revolution. This well-managed company has passed the inflection point to become a leader in India’s explosive television growth.”
Sagansky noted that "Videocon's DTH business is in what we believe to be the fastest growing segment of the media industry in India in part because of the government's ongoing mandatory digitization plan in addition to millions of Indian homes subscribing to pay TV for the first time. Together there is an expected 33 million new pay TV subscribers over the next four years and we are pleased to become part of Videocon d2h’s dynamic growth story.”
