5 September 2008
In a statement on Tuesday, GTV said it had secured an additional $35 million (P232.4 million) of external funding, bringing the total capital invested into the GTV business so far to almost $200 million (P1.3 billion).
Last week, South African mobile operator Vodacom, which is jointly-owned by Telkom and Vodafone, agreed to buy most of Gateway network services, of which GTV is a subsidiary, for an enterprise value of $675-million (P4.5 billion).
The deal does not include privately-owned Gateway's broadcasting business.The statement said shareholders of GTV have re-affirmed their commitment to continued investment in the expansion of the pay-TV business. "This is a tremendous vote of confidence and commitment from the shareholders in the development and prospects for the GTV business over the long-term," the statement said.With further investment over the coming months, GTV believes it makes them one of the biggest investments in the history of African media.
Consumer demand and belief in GTV and its world-class services has resulted in the company becoming Africa's fastest growing pay-television service, according to a research report by Balancing Act.
"Following Gateway's tremendous success in African telecommunications, we believe that the media industry, and in particular pay-television, represents the next great investment opportunity on the continent," said Julian McIntyre, founder and MD of GTV.
"We have demonstrated our commitment to GTV with almost $200 million of investment to-date, and following the extraordinary success since launch, we are committed to further long-term financing."
GTV started operating in Botswana last year.
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