South African telephone company Telkom may be looking at a buyer for its pay-television unit, a local newspaper reported on Friday.
Telkom, which has a 66% stake in Telkom Media, said last month it was in the process of selling its investment, and had identified a potential investor to take over a substantial portion of the stake. It had said it expected a proposal by end-June.
Africa’s biggest fixed-line telephone operator was ”considering a serious offer”, Business Day said on Friday, citing sources close to the matter. It added that Telkom Media’s staff had been informed.
”There’s been quite a lot of interest from groups, internal and foreign,” the newspaper’s source said.
Telkom was not immediately available for comment.
Telkom Media was granted a licence last year by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, but has not yet launched its pay-TV services. The firm had secured funding of more than R7,5-billion over eight years. — Reuters