Wei family agrees to buy Taiwan’s biggest cable TV operator for US$2.4b
Controlling investors of noodle maker Tingyi to pay US$2.4 billion for Taiwanese firm
Taiwan's Wei family has agreed to buy majority control of China Network Systems (CNS), the island's biggest cable-television operator, for about US$2.4 billion including debt from private equity firm MBK Partners, sources said.
The Wei family, who controls noodle maker Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp, is diversifying into telecommunications and media. Its new 4G wireless services firm, Taiwan Star, will begin services this week.
The family, led by Wei Ying-chiao, would be making the investment in CNS in a personal capacity and would also ask other businessmen to invest, the sources said.
"We won this deal because we worked very hard on this for a long time," said a person close to the family. "This is not final yet. We still need the blessing of Taiwan's regulators."
If successful, the CNS purchase will rank as Taiwan's third-biggest merger and acquisition deal, matching American International Group's US$2.4 billion sale of its Taiwan unit in 2011.
MBK owns 60 per cent of CNS, which has about 1.2 million subscribers. CNS competes with Kbro and several other small rivals.