Vedomosti reports that Orion Express has approached MTS, VimpelCom and Megafon and that Fund Service Bank-backed STK Soyuz, a 50% shareholder in the platform, has held talks with all three.
However, according to Yuri Khitrov, the owner of the remaining 50%, no firm offers have yet been received.
Orion Express, which doubled its subscriber base in 2011, is estimated to be worth at least $250-300 million (€6.44-7.73 million).
One of its main attributes is that, unlike Tricolor TV and NTV-Plus, it can be received in the Far East of the country.
Orion express provides services under three brands: Kontinent TV, Vostochnyi Express and Telekarta. DTH Platforms are based on Intelsat 15, 85’E and Express AM3, 140’E satellites. In spite of considerable marketing efforts and cheap subscription fee starting from $20 per year, Orion served no more than 600,000 subscribers by the end of 2011, according to J’son&Partners Consulting, far below Tricolor’s 10 million subscriber base.
