Bangkok Bank Lends $461M To Newly-Established Cable-TV Operator For EPL Rights

Bangkok Bank has lent Cable Thai Holdings, a joint venture of local cable TV operators, THB 14B ($461M) for EPL rights for the '13-15 seasons, according to  Kewaleewongsatorn & Banchongduang of the BANGKOK POST. CTH raised its investment budget by 25% to THB 25B after securing the deal, with the extra money earmarked "to install a fibre-optic network nationwide, buy more content and invest in new broadcast technology." Before obtaining the Premier League rights, CTH had planned to spend THB 20B "to bolster its cable network" from '12-14. Of the THB 14B spent on the English league rights, THB 10B "will be used to acquire EPL content and the rest to upgrade CTH's fibre-optic network." CTH Chair Wichai Thongtang said that the loan "will have a more than three-year repayment period," given that the EPL seasons will run until the middle of the '16 season (BANGKOK POST, 1/9).