Carlyle to buy majority in Eastern Multimedia: `WSJ'

Carlyle Group will pay about US$1.3 billion for the majority stake in Eastern Multimedia Group (東森集團), one of the nation's largest cable-television operators, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, without saying where it got the information.

Carlyle outbid a mix of financial and industry bidders, including a group that included private-equity rival Newbridge Capital LLC and Liberty Media Corp, the WSJ said on its Web site, without citing anyone.

"Nothing is mature enough to make an announcement now,'' Eastern Multimedia spokesman Johnny Sand said when contacted by telephone yesterday.

He declined to elaborate.

Carlyle's Hong Kong-based spokeswoman Dorothy Lee also declined to comment.

Eastern Multimedia controls almost a quarter of the nation's cable television market. The operator would be the second to be sold in Taiwan in the past four months, as overseas firms bet they can boost profits by introducing new technology and services.

Carlyle is seeking to borrow NT$30 billion (US$927 million) for its bid, three bankers competing to lend the money to the Washington-based buyout fund said last month. The bankers declining to be identified before an official announcement. San Francisco-based Newbridge is teaming up with US content provider Liberty Media Corp on its competing offer, two other people involved in the sale said last month.

Final bidders for the group's Eastern Multimedia Co (東森媒體科技) included the Liberty Media-Newbridge group, Carlyle, Macquarie Media Group and Fubon Group (富邦集團), two of the people said, declining to be identified before the winning bid is announced.

Carlyle wants to buy at least two-thirds of Eastern Multimedia in the first stage of investment, said the bankers. The private equity firm is asking banks to bid to finance the purchase of a 100 percent stake, they said.

The sale comes after Macquarie Media Group, Australia's biggest commercial radio operator, agreed last December to buy Taiwan Broadband Communications (台灣寬頻通訊) from Carlyle for A$1.19 billion (US$890 million), giving it a 12 percent market share.

The US buyout firm bought Taiwan Broadband in 1999 for about US$200 million.

Cable television attracted 4.5 million subscribers in the year to Dec. 31 since being introduced in 1998, according to the Government Information Office (GIO). About 200,000 customers subscribed last year, it said.

Eastern Multimedia had 1.05 million subscribers, or a 23.4 percent market share, as of Dec. 31, followed by China Network Systems Co (中嘉網路) with 21.8 percent and Taiwan Broadband with 13.6 percent, said Huang Ching-yi (黃金益), a GIO official.

Taiwan has set a ceiling of 60 percent for combined direct and indirect holdings by foreign funds in a cable TV operator, Huang said.

Sydney-based Macquarie Media avoided the ceiling in its acquisition by arranging for a local investor to hold preferred stock in Taiwan Broadband.

Eastern Multimedia said March 6 that it was in talks with international and local companies for a possible stake sale. It also owns units that operate news, entertainment and shopping channels.

Carlyle, manager of the largest US buyout fund, has more than US$34.9 billion under management, according to its Web site last month.