Moscow, Russia - November 30, 2005 - Sistema (LSE: SSA), the largest private sector consumer services company in Russia and the CIS, announced today that its media arm, Sistema Mass Media, acquired a 74% stake in Cifrovoe Teleradioveshanie (CTV), a digital television broadcasting company, for cash consideration of approximately US$7 million.
CTV was incorporated in June 2005, and was licensed to provide digital TV broadcasting services in Moscow, Moscow Region, Nizhny Novgorod and Nizhny Novgorod Region. In January 2003, the company launched commercial digital TV broadcasting for automobile TV receivers.
Sistema views digital TV as a promising new line of its existing media business and this acquisition is yet another step in the execution of Sistema Mass Media's strategy of refocusing from traditional to digital media.
"We already distribute our content through cable, MMDS and ADSL networks, and this acquisition will enable us to add a new distribution channel to our existing TV infrastructure," commented Alexander Leiviman, CEO of Sistema Mass Media.
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