The Hungarian State buys back Antenna Hungria from TDF Group

On March 26, 2014 NISZ Nemzeti Infokommunik ci s Szolg ltat Z rtk ruen Muk do R szv nyt rsas g (NISZ), a wholly owned subsidiary of Magyar Nemzeti Vagyonkezelo Z rtk ruen Muk do R szv nyt rsas g (MNV), signed a binding agreement for the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Antenna Hung ria Magyar Musorsz r s R di h rk zl si Z rtk ruen Muk do R szv nyt rsas g (Antenna Hung ria), a subsidiary of the French broadcast network service group TDF S.A. (TDF). As of May 30, 2014, the new owner of Antenna Hung ria will be NISZ, a state-owned company providing governmental information and telecommunication operations and services.

The transaction - which includes the purchase of the shares and the repayment of the loan provided by TDF to Antenna Hung ria - is concluded at an enterprise value of 55.9 billion HUF (approximately 180 million Euros), for an adjusted EBITDA (excluding residual Analog TV) as at March 31st, 2014 of 5.59 billion HUF (approximately 18 million Euros).

In 2013, TDF launched a disposal process to sell 100% of the shares of Antenna Hung ria, to which the Hungarian State applied as a buyer.

Attila Zolt n Szab , CEO of NISZ declares on the acquisition: The government decided to repurchase Antenna Hung ria, because as a result of this the ownership of the strategically important nationwide terrestrial television and radio broadcasting and program distribution, as well as the satellite broadcasting and program distribution falls back to the state. The decision of the government is in line with its strategy to place public utilities under public ownership, and the National Infocommunication Strategy.

Olivier Huart, CEO of TDF Group declares: We are pleased to have concluded this agreement with the Hungarian State. We are proud that under TDF leadership, Antenna Hung ria has been able to successfully transition from the Analog TV world to the Digital TV era; as a result of significant additional investments of circa 20 billion HUF (circa 65 million Euros) and driven by both TDF and the company's expertise, it also pioneered a number of new services and technologies, thus robustly positioning Antenna Hung ria as an innovative and leading player in the digital media world in Hungary.

The reacquisition of Antenna Hung ria, in line with the strategy of the Hungarian government, will result in the state (currently the most important customer of Antenna Hung ria), re-obtaining the ownership of the public utilities which has a national security importance, securing the nationwide terrestrial television and radio broadcasting network and distribution, and satellite broadcasting and distribution. With the completion of the transaction, a well-developed digital technology and competence will be placed under public ownership, which provides an opportunity for the broadcasting infrastructure-system to perform state- and administrative duties while in the same time optimizing costs and providing high-quality services.

PR TDF_Antenna Hungaria_UK_260314 (pdf - 423.11 Ko)

LINK:	http://www.tdf-group.com/news/press-release/the-hungarian-state-buys-b...
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