Following a trading halt on July 14, the manager of Asian Pay Television Trust (APTT) announced that that the National Communications Commission of Taiwan (NCC) has rejected the proposed transaction for Da Da Digital Convergence to acquire a 65% stake in its sole shareholder, Dynami Vision.
Da Da Digital is controlled by Dai Yung Huei, the founder of Taiwan-listed Dafeng TV. Araedis Investment, an associate of Da Da Digital, has been increasing its stake in APTT. To date, it has acquired a direct interest of more than 16% in the units of APTT.
The NCC’s decision will not have an impact on the operations and cash flows of APTT or TBC, nor the distribution guidance of 1.0 Singapore cent per unit for 2021.
Brian McKinley, CEO of the manager says, “It is business as usual for the Trustee-Manager, APTT and TBC. We will continue to grow the partnership with our largest unitholder, Da Da Digital, which has deep experience in Taiwan’s cable TV and telecommunications industry. We look forward to tapping the combined management expertise and strengths in driving the business forward. There are synergies to be extracted, including deriving cost-savings from economies of scale, better capital expenditure management and tapping opportunities arising from Taiwan’s 5G rollout.”
“We are attracted to TBC’s fully owned advanced hybrid fibre coaxial cable network and its wide subscriber base of over 1.2 million. In particular, TBC’s growth strategy in growing the Broadband business and unlocking the potential of data backhaul shows promise. We are keen to grow Da Da Digital’s stake in APTT in the mid to long term, while adhering to the necessary regulations in Taiwan and Singapore,” adds Dai.
Units in APTT closed at 12 cents on July 14.
