Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI) \u2013 the owner of e.tv \u2013 has been approached on five occasions to be purchased, according to a report in the Business Times.<\/p>\n
The report stated that the interested buyers were rejected as a \u201cmatter of principle\u201d, according to CEO Johnny Copelyn.<\/p>\n
Copelyn said no sale is imminent, but what they own \u201ccould be purchased from us at a price\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never seen an offer from anyone that is faintly in line with our expectations for the future of the business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The report stated that HCI is constantly in talks with mobile operators like Vodacom and MTN about partnership opportunities, and has run several pilot projects with the companies.<\/p>\n
It added that Telkom is understood to be one of the companies interested in HCI and its controlling stake in e.tv.<\/p>\n
The purchase of e.tv by Telkom could allow the company to diversify its content offering to customers.<\/p>\n
Analyst De Wet Schutte said HCI and Remgro, shareholders in e.tv, had \u201clooked at ways to protect the business through the migration to digital terrestrial TV\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve come up with the satellite solution and the story is still to play out in the years to come. They are rolling out the satellite boxes at a good rate, so I think e.tv could be a much bigger business in the years ahead,\u201d said\u00a0Schutte.<\/p>\n
Telkom declined to comment on the acquisition reports, but noted that \u201cmany telecoms companies had identified content as a strong driver for high-speed broadband adoption\u201d.<\/p>\n
The report follows e.tv adding four new channels<\/strong><\/a> to DStv to expand its reach.<\/p>\n
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