Sale of South Africa's Telkom Media could be months away

July 18, 2008 - The sale by South African telco Telkom SA of its 66% stake in nascent pay-TV division Telkom Media could be months away, according to reports, although several interested potential purchasers have been approached.

Telkom SA has invested R325mn (US$43mn) in its pay-TV division, which it is now looking to unload.  There are "several potentially interested and suitable investors" which have been identified and approached directly, according to Nas Fourie, Chief of Strategy for Telkom SA, however industry insiders believe it could be months before a deal is concluded.  Fourie added: “Since the decision to significantly reduce its investment in Telkom Media, the company [Telkom] has restricted funding to cover essential operational costs only. Telkom will continue funding in this manner until the current process is concluded.”

Telkom Media received licences last year to operate satellite and IPTV services in South Africa, and reports that it plans to offer a bouquet of channels addressing a broad range of interests, including sports, movies, news, general entertainment, knowledge and education.