The parties have already signed a pre-sale agreement, the sources said, but it is not yet clear whether the Czech group will also buy the sports TV station RCS&RDS operates. RCS&RDS officials declined comment when reached by ZF, while Lama’s representatives did not return ZF’s calls by press time.
RCS&RDS had 172,000 subscribers for its DTH service in Czech Republic in mid last year.
RCS&RDS mentioned the sale of Digi Czech Republic in the prospectus of a bond issue that helped it borrow EUR450 million at the end of last year. It said that should the opportunity arise, it could sell its Czech operations.
The RCS&RDS group, whose annual revenue amounts to about EUR620 million exited Croatia, Slovakia and Serbia last year, as part of its strategy to focus solely on Romania and Hungary, the markets that generate the highest revenue. RCS&RDS derives more than EUR400 million revenue from Romania alone.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)