Taiwan set to approve Carlyle Group L.P. Taiwan cable TV unit Kbro Co. sale

Taiwan’s media and broadcasting regulator is set to approve private-equity firm Carlyle Group L.P.’s [CYL.UL] $1.14 billion sale of  Taiwan cable TV unit Kbro Co. On July 26, the Tsai Family, which controls Fubon Financial Holding Co. (2881.TW), said it was in talks with Carlyle to buy Kbro TV and was awaiting regulatory approval. The Tsai family will assume Kbro’s debt of more than T$20 billion.

Under the original deal, agreed in September 2009, phone company Taiwan Mobile (3045.TW) had agreed to buy the Carlyle unit, Kbro, but the deal lapsed in the face of a Taiwan law that bans state ownership of media entities.

The deal would mark Carlyle’s latest exit from Taiwan, and bodes well for the on-going bidding process for private equity investor MBK Partner’s sale of China Network Systems (CNS), Taiwan’s No.2 cable TV operator.