Foxtel tables Austar takeover

Foxtel has offered to take over Austar for an equity value of A$1.93 billion $2.04 billion in a deal that will consolidate two of Australia’s pay-television operators.

Foxtel has 1.63 million subscriber households on cable and satellite, which it serves through retail and wholesale distribution. It yesterday offered shareholders of Austar, which provides subscription TV in regional and rural Australia, A$1.52 per share to buy the company. If the deal goes through, Foxtel intends to merge Austar into itself through a scheme of arrangement, creating a media company with more than 2,500 full-time equivalent employees and expected annual revenues of more than A$2.8 billion.

The merged entity...