UPC wants to be on top

Cable TV operator United Pan-Europe Communications (UPC) Romania has concluded the acquisition of Satba Bacau, adding a total of 9,000 new customers to its existing portfolio of more than 330,000 cable TV subscribers. UPC Romania also acquired cable TV provider Eurosat Bacau earlier this year. UPC is the third- largest player on the cable TV market in Romania, after RCS & RDS and Astral Telecom. The two parties did not reveal the value of the acquisition; however, in these deals, each subscriber is normally “counted” as worth around $150. This would mean UPC may have paid over $1 million for Satba Bacau. “This new acquisition is part of UPC’s strategy to become the leader of the cable TV industry in Romania,” a company official stated. Word recently spread on the market of UPC Romania’s plans to buy one of its top two competitors. ZF