All major stakeholders involved in the acquisition of the Eastern Broadcasting Co (EBC) have been requested to attend the National Communications Commission (NCC) on Wednesday next week to answer commissioners’ questions, the commission said yesterday.
The buyer is expected to give specific answers about what it will do when it becomes the official owner of the network, the commission said.
Mao Te International Investment Co gained ownership of EBC last year through the purchase of shares owned by the network’s two previously largest shareholders: Carlyle Group and Eastern Media International. The transaction was reported to have cost Mao Te NT$12.3 billion (US$416.1 million).
Carlyle Group, a foreign investor, owned 65 percent of the shares in EBC.
Its transfer of shares to Mao Te requires approval from the NCC and the Investment Commission under the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The commission on Jan. 4 held a public hearing to review the case, and on Tuesday it held an administrative hearing to solicit opinions from the general public, media experts and the stakeholders.
Commissioners reviewed the statements made by different parties in both the hearings in their weekly meeting yesterday, NCC spokesperson Weng Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said.
“Whether Mao Te can up uphold journalistic independence, protect the workers at EBC, increase the percentage of the programs produced by the network itself and execute its business plan is of concern,” he said.
“Therefore, we require all stakeholders in the transaction to present their cases, including Mao Te, EBC and the Carlyle Group,” he added.
The commissioners said that they hoped that Mao Te could contribute to the development of locally-produced content, as the company promised in both hearings that it would increase funding for program production by NT$100 million annually on top of the NT$300 million that EBC currently spends, Weng said.
The funding would not be enough, as production for one TV program episode could cost as much as NT$5 million, Weng quoted some commissioners as saying.
Specific promises made by Mao Te in its meeting with commissioners next week would also become conditional clauses if commissioners approve the acquisition, Weng said.
“Mao Te has proposed some plans in the hearings, such as not laying off workers and considering having workers serve on the EBC, but there were no specifics,” he said.
The EBC is the nation’s largest cable network and as such the commission is to review the deal comprehensively, Weng said, adding that this would be a landmark case.
“We will not let the company make promises that they can simply disregard after the deal is approved,” he said, adding that the commission does not have a deadline for closing the case.
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