Telenor Broadcast sells Conax to Swiss group

Telenor Broadcast, a group company of Norway's telecom major Telenor Group, today announced a deal to sell its subsidiary Conax AS for 1.51 billion Norwegian krone ($250 million) to Swiss-based Kudelski Group.

Conax is a leading global provider of solutions for securing digital video content distribution on all networks and devices with a market share of approximately 7 per cent.

With a product portfolio encompassing both traditional broadcast products and complete solutions for multi-screen TV distribution, Conax claims to serve approximately 380 customers worldwide representing 140 million pay-TV consumers in over 85 countries.

The sale of Conax marks an important step for Telenor Broadcast in pursuing its stated strategy of focusing on its core activities within the Telenor Group.

The acquisition of Conax by Kudelski Group will benefit Conax's customers, including Telenor Broadcast-owned Canal Digital in the Nordics, a company release said.

"The Conax operation has been very successful with a strong track record of international growth and high profitability. However, as competition increases and new technologies emerge, achieving global scale and enhancing market share will be key determinants of future success. To support Conax and jointly pursue future growth opportunities we have evaluated that the best way forward for Conax is with a new owner, Kudelski Group, a leading security player within the industry," Patrik Hofbauer, senior vice president and CEO of Telenor Broadcast, said.

The transaction is expected to be finalised in April 2014, and Telenor will report a gain of approximately NOK 1.3 billion.

Conax had revenues of NOK 627 million, EBITDA of NOK 243 million and capex of NOK 44 million in 2013.

Telenor Group is an international provider of tele, data and media communication services. The group has mobile operations in 12 markets in the Nordic region, Central and Eastern Europe and in Asia, as well as a voting stake of 42.95 per cent (economic stake 33 per cent) in VimpelCom Ltd, operating in 17 markets.

Based in Norway, Telenor Group is one of the world's major mobile operators with 161 million mobile subscriptions in its consolidated operations in the third quarter of 2013, revenues in 2012 of NOK 102 billion, and a workforce of nearly 34,000.