SKT Sky Network Television Limited.

[Southern Lad]

Since the CEO and some others have just increased their shareholding. Can an assumption be made that a takeover is not likely in the immediate future?

Not necessarily - a takeover could be hostile and therefore sprung on SKT in a surprise raid like approach. However, Vodafone unlikely to launch a hostile bid, so would likely be another party.

[mistaTea]

Some interesting developments with Sky...

Was just chatting to a rep from RugbyPass. They have held their Asian pricing at US$169.99 per annum (~$14/month).


But the 'rest of the world' has dropped to US$54 per annum ($4.50/month). The fact that they only had 20,000 or so subs told me that the price was too high. I am not sure what the 'sweet spot' is for pricing, but they reckon that the markets that RP hold broadcast rights to have 100M potential fans...and 3M of those could conceivably be converted to monthly subscribers.

These are the countries they have rights to...

Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam; Europe: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia, & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine. Middle-East: United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait.

Also, we know Sky Sport NOW subs have been slashed to NZ$299.99 per annum (~$25/month). That will generate a lot more subs as there is a keen interest in the rugby at the moment, plus NRL, super cars etc.

But beyond that, they are also being aggressive with satellite. My father in law just got a deal with Sky for Starter + Sport for $28/month! - locked in for a 12 month contract.

Clearly Sky are pulling out all of the stops to report an impressive subscription number in the next Annual Report. And they can pass on some savings now that they are clawing back a bunch of the sporting broadcast $$$.

In my mind, these moves make me think the Board are not close to endorsing a takeover. Why bother to do all this if you are about to be bought out?

It is entirely possible that the likes of IFT are kicking the tyres etc...but if they are giving indicative offers of around the 30c mark the board may well be pushing back hard. If they can boost subs (especially RP) significantly by getting their pricing right, and then provide compelling broadband bundles in NZ...the company will be worth significantly more within 2 years. So I have my fingers and toes crossed that The Board stick to their guns and don't entertain any low ball opportunistic offers.

Hard to know, and we can speculate all day long. But I do find the aggressive moves on pricing quite interesting.

[airedale]

Hi Mista T, I can't imagine that there is "keen interest" from any of those countries mentioned.

[mistaTea]

Hi Mista T, I can't imagine that there is "keen interest" from any of those countries mentioned.

Rugby has been growing in popularity in parts of Asia and Eastern Europe. And these are the places that international rugby need to focus for growth.

NZ, Aussie, South Africa, UK etc are all mature and saturated markets. But there are millions of potential fans in these other growing markets.

The pricing has to be right though, especially when trying to gain a presence. Better to go in with wafer thin margins at first and then lift subscription costs over time as you hit a critical mass of subs and the sport really takes off in the target market.

[macduffy]

Just a market rumour, IMO. People see IFT raising funds; SKY looking "cheap" and jump to a conclusion. More likely, IFT are positioning themselves for opportunities that might arise as the recession/depression deepens.

[Stranger_Danger]

Never fear Sky TV holders, Bangladeshi rugby fans to the rescue!

[Stranger_Danger]

I can't fathom why Infratil would be a likely acquirer of Sky. Sky's core business is aggregating and selling content. Their set top box and dish infrastructure seems redundant with streaming over broadband and 5G. Does not seem a great fit with an infrastructure investment company like Infratil.

The only rationale I can see is Vodafone being able to bundle content. But they can do this as a reseller without buying Sky.

Perhaps if cheap enough, it could be an opportunistic buy like Z Energy was. As an Infratil shareholder, I can't say that am excited about the prospect of acquiring Sky. I would much rather they grew investment in data centres.

They won't buy Sky TV. They did the placement to be ready to take the rest of Wgtn Airport off the Council, a prospect that is far, far more likely than them buying Sky TV.

[mistaTea]

I can't fathom why Infratil would be a likely acquirer of Sky. Sky's core business is aggregating and selling content. Their set top box and dish infrastructure seems redundant with streaming over broadband and 5G. Does not seem a great fit with an infrastructure investment company like Infratil.

The only rationale I can see is Vodafone being able to bundle content. But they can do this as a reseller without buying Sky.

Perhaps if cheap enough, it could be an opportunistic buy like Z Energy was. As an Infratil shareholder, I can't say that am excited about the prospect of acquiring Sky. I would much rather they grew investment in data centres.

Yeah those are fair comments. And it may well be that SKY is the last thing IFT are looking at right now. As Macduff says, it could just be a case of people looking at recent events, putting 2+2 together and getting 5. Time will tell.

The only reason they might look at Sky while it is cheap is because of the Vodafone angle. Right now Vodafone have a friendly wholesale arrangement with Sky - but sky entering broadband will put pressure on this relationship. And if Sky can offer attractive broadband-SkyGO bundles they will be able to build up a strong customer base (at the expense of the other telcos).

Sky entering broadband will make Vodafone worth less (not worthless, but worth less...). So it is not totally crazy to think that IFT could look at this opportunity to buy sky while it is ‘cheap’ as a way of turning a potential significant threat to Vodafone into an asset.

I am sure IFT will announce what they are buying with the money soon, so one way or another we won’t be left wondering long.

I don’t want IFT to buy Sky either - only because I think Sky is worth much more to me long term than the low ball offer I would likely receive at the minute.

[mistaTea]

Never fear Sky TV holders, Bangladeshi rugby fans to the rescue!

Don’t forget the Nepalese tuning in from Mt Everest...

[Ogg]

. They did the placement to be ready to take the rest of Wgtn Airport off the Council.

Just lol, that's not going to happen under a Labour government.

Besides, having some public ownership is an advantage. Cheap guaranteed loans, better legal protection etc. If the company fails so does the public - it's a fail safe mechanism. Just look at the difference between Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia!

Besides...

INFRATIL CURRENTLY HAS A MAJOR PROBLEM!

It owns a multi billion dollar company without a domain name!

Vodafone.co.nz is owned by "Vodafone Group Plc", which is a third party.

https://www.dnc.org.nz/whois/search?...vodafone.co.nz

Imagine forking out $3,000,000,000 for a business but not getting the $24 domain name that comes with it... Just lol.

Let's take a look at a domain name that Infrtil does own: VodafoneTV.co.nz

https://www.dnc.org.nz/whois/search?...dafonetv.co.nz

Mmm, that's strange, the domain name is "pending release". They are 84 days past due. When the clock hits 90 days it' over. Next Saturday the domain name will become publicly available.

Imagine investing millions of dollars in a business and then leaving the domain name to expire...Just lol.

Don't you muppets get it! Vodafone NZ is history. The brand is going bye bye. Infratil is buying Sky and merging it with Vodafone NZ!