Eastern Multimedia, one of Taiwan's two leading cable operators, is planning to list on Hong Kong's main board by the end of the year to raise US$500 million.
Chief executive Charles Wu confirmed the listing plan yesterday, saying it aimed to draw interest from international capital markets.
'Our company is valued at a market capitalisation between US$1.2 billion and US$1.8 billion, and we are planning to raise US$300 million to US$500 million,' he said.
Eastern Multimedia provides services to 880,000 TV households - 25 per cent of the island's 3.6 million cable TV users. Users pay a monthly fee of NT$550, (HK$122).
Rival China Network Systems, owned by the island's Koos Group and Rupert Murdoch's Star TV, provided services to 890,000 users, chief operating officer Daniel Cheung said.
Taiwanese cable TV users pay about NT$500 to NT$550 per month for a package of up 90 TV channels on an analogue platform.
The Taiwanese Government sets a price ceiling on pay-TV services and restricts single operators to less than a third of the market.
