Microsoft Corp could be about to pay $952m to take a majority stake in Japanese cable TV operator Titus Communications. According to Japanese business newspaper, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Microsoft is negating to buy out US Cable TV operator MediaOne Group’s 60% stake in Titus. Microsoft is also considering buying Titus shares from Itochu Corp and Toshiba Corp.
The deal would be the largest ever in Japanese cable TV history and could be completed by the end of this month, according to the paper. Since the beginning of this year, Microsoft has struck deals to invest a total of $9bn in US, European and Latin American cable TV companies. Microsoft, in common with companies like Sony Corp, is looking at the broadband cable networks as a way of delivering media content, internet and e-commerce services via set-top boxes and other devices, into the home. á
