News: PerfecTV/JSkyB Merger On April 1 - Report

• from: owner-sat-japan@tags1.dn.net
• Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 18:04:12 +0900

PerfecTV/JSkyB Merger On April 1 - Report

TOKYO, JAPAN, 30 January 1998 (Sat-ND) -- Japan's PerfecTV, the country's
first DTH digital satellite service, will probably merge with Rupert
Murdoch's Japan Sky Broadcasting (JSkyB) on April 1, according to Kyodo
News Service.

The companies are likely to merge on an equal basis, which means that the
eight major shareholders will hold equal stakes. They are Itochu, Mitsui
and Co., Nissho Iwai and Sumitomo (PerfecTV) and Sony, Fuji Television,
News Corp. and Softbank (JSkyB.) A merger plan is expected to be formally
announced in mid-February.

PerfecTV offers 100 channels to about 500,000 subscribers. JSkyB said it
would launch its 100-channel service this spring. They will compete against
Hughes-backed DirecTV Japan, which started its 90-channel service last
December.

A PerfecTV spokeswoman confirmed the two companies were discussing a merger
but haven't reached an agreement yet. An official at JSkyB said the two
companies will soon announce whether they've decided to merge.

By: Peter Klanowski
Source: Sat-ND

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