Atria to up its stake in ACN Cable


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Rebecca Hawkes

| 27 November 2015




Bengaluru-based cable company Atria Convergence Technologies is to acquire a further 25% stake in subsidiary ACN Cable, bringing its total shareholding to 74%.



ACN Cable has been awarded a multi-system operator’s (MSO) licence for the provision of digital TV in the Nellore region of India.

“We are increasing our stake in ACN Cable, which has got a DAS [digital addressable system] licence, from 49% to 74%. The financial investors of ACN Cable are looking to exit. We have applied to the FIPB [Foreign Investment Promotional Board] for approval,” Bala Malladi, CEO, Atria Convergence Technologies, told TelevisionPost.com.

ACN Cable, which has a 90% market share in Nellore, will be valued at INR500 million for the deal, he added.

Shiv Kumar Reddy will retain his role as managing director of the cable TV company, which runs its operations through Atria subsidiaries Kable First India, ABS Broadband and ACT Digital.

Atria currently claims 850,000 cable TV subscribers in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, though it is eying 1.25 million subscribers by the end of the current financial year. ACN has an estimated cable TV subscription base of 130,000 with 110,000 digital set-top boxes seeded, according to TelevisionPost.com.