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-   -   [Merged] ntl to sell Broadcast Division. (https://www.cableforum.uk/board/showthread.php?t=20893)

obvious 02-12-2004 11:05
NTL To Sell Broadcast Business
 
Quote:
ntl Incorporated announces agreement to sell Broadcast business for GBP 1.27 billion

LONDON, December 2, 2004 - ntl Incorporated (NASDAQ: NTLI) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its broadcast business to a consortium led by Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group (MCG) and including Macquarie Bank Limited, Industry Funds Management (Nominees) Limited and other third party investors for a purchase price of GBP 1.27 billion. The sale is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2005. ntl and the broadcast business have also entered into certain agreements relating to the provision of future services.

ntl is currently evaluating alternative uses of the proceeds generated from the sale. These alternatives include a special dividend to shareholders and/or stock repurchases, debt repayment and general corporate purposes. The decision regarding use of proceeds, which will be designed to maximize shareholder value, will be made after the sale is completed, taking into account tax, legal and structural considerations.

Simon Duffy, Chief Executive Officer of ntl, said, "We are very pleased to have agreed the sale of our Broadcast division to MCG on these terms. MCG has been an excellent owner of a similar business we sold to them in Australia in 2002 and I am sure that they will prove to be an equally good owner of our UK Broadcast business. The 2002 transaction has proved to be highly beneficial to both MCG and ntl and I am confident that the transaction we are announcing today will prove to be just as successful for both parties. Going forward, this transaction will enable us to focus on continuing to grow our core cable and broadband businesses."

The broadcast business provides tower site leasing, broadcast transmission, satellite, media, public safety communications and other network services in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The broadcast business' customers include the leading UK mobile wireless operators, all major commercial television and radio broadcasters and public safety organizations such as the police, fire and ambulance services. The broadcast business has the second largest independent portfolio of wireless towers and sites available for lease in the UK.

ormonde 02-12-2004 12:26
NTL tTo be Bought By Australians ?
 
Am I out of touch -or is this new news being reported by Google
"An Australian-led consortium said it would buy the broadcast business of communications and entertainment group ntl Inc for 1.27 billion pounds (2.46 billion US dollars). "

Mike:eh:

Paul 02-12-2004 12:28
Re: NTL tTo be Bought By Australians ?
 
"broadcast" is one franchise (in Norfolk I am told). It's not the whole of ntl. :)

ormonde 02-12-2004 12:31
Re: NTL tTo be Bought By Australians ?
 
Seems a lot of money for Norfolk link is

http://www.turkishpress.com/business...3.re5bth43.xml-

Chris 02-12-2004 12:51
Re: NTL tTo be Bought By Australians ?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul M
"broadcast" is one franchise (in Norfolk I am told). It's not the whole of ntl. :)
Oh buddha ... :erm:

/Me regrets that irony doesn't come across very well in a chatroom ... :D

NTL Broadcast is the division of the company that runs TV transmitters and the like. They have been trying to get rid of it for some time.

Paul 02-12-2004 13:03
Re: NTL tTo be Bought By Australians ?
 
/Slaps Chris for mis-informing him :banghead:

Chris 02-12-2004 13:09
Re: [Merged] ntl to sell Broadcast Division.
 
/ahem:

Quote:
11:47 : [Ignition]: for those who didn't know, ntl have apparently flogged broadcast

11:48 : [Paul M]: broardcast ?

11:48 : [Chris T]: yep, their Norfolk franchise

11:49 : [Paul M]: oh
No misinformation there. :D

orangebird 02-12-2004 13:58
Re: NTL tTo be Bought By Australians ?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul M
"broadcast" is one franchise (in Norfolk I am told). It's not the whole of ntl. :)
The main Broadcast site is actually in Winchester. There's also Emley Moor and a couple of other sites.

altis 02-12-2004 14:06
Re: NTL tTo be Bought By Australians ?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by orangebird
There's also Emley Moor and a couple of other sites.
Just a few! ;)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/tv_tr...rs/tv_c5.shtml

(and those are just the Channel 5 ones)

[edit]
Announcement:
http://www.ntlmediasolutions.com/new...ection=topical

..oh and
Quote:
ntl:broadcast †“ infrastructure facts
†¢ 30 satellite antennas
†¢ access to around 100 satellites
†¢ 17,000 miles of national and local fibre optic networks in the UK
†¢ connectivity to London and rest of UK, Ireland and 48 US cities
†¢ 100 terrabytes of capacity on the video archiver at our Broadcast Media Centre
†¢ over 1100 terrestrial transmission sites
†¢ access to national digital data capacity
taken from:
http://www.ntlmediasolutions.com/World_of_Media_Bro.pdf

...a bit bigger than Norfolk :D

ProfPete 02-12-2004 14:16
Re: [Merged] ntl to sell Broadcast Division.
 
And countless other non-TV masts, like St Hilary Down

Try the mx21 site for full details ;)

orangebird 02-12-2004 14:22
Re: NTL tTo be Bought By Australians ?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by altis
Just a few! ;)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/tv_tr...rs/tv_c5.shtml

(and those are just the Channel 5 ones)

[edit]
Announcement:
http://www.ntlmediasolutions.com/new...ection=topical

..oh and taken from:
http://www.ntlmediasolutions.com/World_of_Media_Bro.pdf

...a bit bigger than Norfolk :D
I meant offices... I know how many sites there are, I have worked here for 6 years....

altis 02-12-2004 14:35
Re: [Merged] ntl to sell Broadcast Division.
 
Some pics of Emley Moor here:
http://www.nosox.org/b3ta/mast/

(I like 'bloody students' best) :D :D

andyl 02-12-2004 14:38
Re: [Merged] ntl to sell Broadcast Division.
 
Pay attention. In Norfolk they have expanses of water. They're called Broads. Thumbs up to Chris T! Still fascinating to know where all these masts are. Isn't it?!

Chris 02-12-2004 14:54
Re: [Merged] ntl to sell Broadcast Division.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by andyl
Pay attention. In Norfolk they have expanses of water. They're called Broads. Thumbs up to Chris T! Still fascinating to know where all these masts are. Isn't it?!
Oh saints preserve us. :banghead: Thank you, andyl.

I'm now off to find a planet that shares my obviously unique sense of humour.

Ignition 02-12-2004 15:22
Re: NTL tTo be Bought By Australians ?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul M
"broadcast" is one franchise (in Norfolk I am told). It's not the whole of ntl. :)
:LOL: :clap:

etccarmageddon 02-12-2004 15:43
Re: [Merged] ntl to sell Broadcast Division.
 
Right now half the forum think NTL are selling Norfolk to the Australians? Reminds me of Jade Goody and her 'East Angleeea - I thought that was abroad?'

http://theinternetforum.co.uk/bigbrother3/jade2.html

Theodoric 03-12-2004 13:06
Re: [Merged] ntl to sell Broadcast Division.
 
1 Attachment(s)
And the sale includes the UK's tallest free-standing structure. ntl no longer rising to great heights, perhaps?

Pierre 03-12-2004 13:22
Re: [Merged] ntl to sell Broadcast Division.
 
Quote:
oh and
Quote:
ntl:broadcast †“ infrastructure facts
†¢ 30 satellite antennas
†¢ access to around 100 satellites
†¢ 17,000 miles of national and local fibre optic networks in the UK
†¢ connectivity to London and rest of UK, Ireland and 48 US cities
†¢ 100 terrabytes of capacity on the video archiver at our Broadcast Media Centre
†¢ over 1100 terrestrial transmission sites
†¢ access to national digital data capacity
Slightly incorrect:

Quote:
17,000 miles of national and local fibre optic networks in the UK
The fibre optic network is owned by Networks and is not part of Broadcast.

Still 1.75b - I think they've made a killing

injuneer 09-12-2004 18:53
Re: [Merged] ntl to sell Broadcast Division.
 
It'll be interesting to see how this sell off works. A lot of Ntl's national core fibre network runs through broadcast sites plus they have a lot of equipment installed on them. I think 1300 staff will move across to the new company. It's the only profitable bit Ntl owned. It's all the stuff that used to be the engineering arm of the IBA. Their main building is at Crawley Court Winchester.:dozey:

Pierre 10-12-2004 11:02
Re: [Merged] ntl to sell Broadcast Division.
 
Quote:
It's the only profitable bit Ntl owned. It's all the stuff that used to be the engineering arm of the IBA. Their main building is at Crawley Court Winchester.
Boolloocks, you obviously don't know what your talking about. All divisions of ntl are "operating" at a profit.

The company is not yet showing a profit because of its debt but revenues are up.

Broadcast is a good solid business but its revenues of 66.6m in the last Quarter are dwarfed by ntl:Homes revenue of 405m.

Broadcasts profits in the last quarter were actualy wiped out by a contractual failure so they only made 2.4m whereas Home made 180m.

Quote:
A lot of Ntl's national core fibre network runs through broadcast sites plus they have a lot of equipment installed on them
This is not a problem and leasing and wayleave agreements have already been done.

Quote:
Their main building is at Crawley Court Winchester
ntl have agreed a five year lease of one of the floors so ntl staff that need to will be staying at the site.

orangebird 10-12-2004 11:11
Re: [Merged] ntl to sell Broadcast Division.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pierre
Boolloocks, you obviously don't know what your talking about. All divisions of ntl are "operating" at a profit.

The company is not yet showing a profit because of its debt but revenues are up.

Broadcast is a good solid business but its revenues of 66.6m in the last Quarter are dwarfed by ntl:Homes revenue of 405m.

Broadcasts profits in the last quarter were actualy wiped out by a contractual failure so they only made 2.4m whereas Home made 180m.

This is not a problem and leasing and wayleave agreements have already been done.


ntl have agreed a five year lease of one of the floors so ntl staff that need to will be staying at the site.
Can someone please greenie rep pierre for me? :D

thorne1j 06-01-2005 10:00
ntl Broadcast: Pensions
 
bectu.org.uk
5th January

More talks scheduled on Ntl: pensions
A series of meetings has been set up to discuss staff pensions and other rights after communications company Ntl: is sold.

At the meetings, which are due to take place throughout January, BECTU hopes to finalise details of a final-salary staff pension scheme, which new owner Macquarrie Communications has promised will be "broadly equivalent" to Ntl's exising scheme.

Union negotiators are pressing Ntl: management to put right a pension deficit of more than £50m before the company's ownership passes to Macquarrie, to ensure that there is enough cash in the fund to guarantee that all current pension entitlements can be honoured.

Macquarrie are in the process of appointing a specialist pension consultant to help design a new scheme for Ntl: staff working in transmitters and related areas, whose pension entitlements date back to a period when they were employed by the now-defunct Independent Broadcasting Authority.

However members are concerned that the current Ntl: schemes will be frozen following the transfer of staff to Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group, and staff will become deferred members.

Ntl: has agreed to meet its "statutory obligations" in respect of the current scheme, which will leave members potentially out of pocket since their un-taken pensions will increase only in line with inflation, or 5% per year if that is lower than RPI, instead of matching growth in earnings.

One of the planned meetings, on January 20, will bring union representatives together with trustees of the current Ntl: pension scheme, while in separate talks with company management, BECTU will be trying to win guarantees that benefits linked to the pension scheme, like early retirement and redundancy, are retained after the transfer of ownership.

Union official David Beevers said, "BECTU's objective is to get Ntl: to make good the schemes current deficits out of the proceeds of the sale to facilitate a seemless like-for-like transfer of funds in to the new MCIG scheme.

"Ntl: owe this to their Broadcast staff who have made the business what it is today, worth the £1.27 billion price tag to be paid by Maquarrie."

5 January 2005

Escapee 06-01-2005 11:28
Re: ntl Broadcast: Pensions
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by thorne1j
bectu.org.uk
5th January

More talks scheduled on Ntl: pensions
A series of meetings has been set up to discuss staff pensions and other rights after communications company Ntl: is sold.

At the meetings, which are due to take place throughout January, BECTU hopes to finalise details of a final-salary staff pension scheme, which new owner Macquarrie Communications has promised will be "broadly equivalent" to Ntl's exising scheme.

Union negotiators are pressing Ntl: management to put right a pension deficit of more than £50m before the company's ownership passes to Macquarrie, to ensure that there is enough cash in the fund to guarantee that all current pension entitlements can be honoured.

Macquarrie are in the process of appointing a specialist pension consultant to help design a new scheme for Ntl: staff working in transmitters and related areas, whose pension entitlements date back to a period when they were employed by the now-defunct Independent Broadcasting Authority.

However members are concerned that the current Ntl: schemes will be frozen following the transfer of staff to Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group, and staff will become deferred members.

Ntl: has agreed to meet its "statutory obligations" in respect of the current scheme, which will leave members potentially out of pocket since their un-taken pensions will increase only in line with inflation, or 5% per year if that is lower than RPI, instead of matching growth in earnings.

One of the planned meetings, on January 20, will bring union representatives together with trustees of the current Ntl: pension scheme, while in separate talks with company management, BECTU will be trying to win guarantees that benefits linked to the pension scheme, like early retirement and redundancy, are retained after the transfer of ownership.

Union official David Beevers said, "BECTU's objective is to get Ntl: to make good the schemes current deficits out of the proceeds of the sale to facilitate a seemless like-for-like transfer of funds in to the new MCIG scheme.

"Ntl: owe this to their Broadcast staff who have made the business what it is today, worth the £1.27 billion price tag to be paid by Maquarrie."

5 January 2005
So am I right to assume that Broadcast didn't transfer their pension scheme (ie: the one before cableTel bought them) into the Rothschild Asset Management one?

I am guessing this must be the case because the Rothschild one was a Group Private scheme, and I didn't think ntl could remove money from it. Or are they saying ntl did not pay in for a period because they were short of cash.

If my memory serves me, there were changes to the Rothschild one later on, as the pension company changed ownership. The bottom line is I suppose how is my frozen ntl pension doing?

Am I shafted again?


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