MONTREAL — Stingray Digital Group is looking to acquire competitor Music Choice in a proposed takeover deal valued at US$120 million.
Stingray announced Friday it made an unsolicited offer to purchase all of the issued and outstanding units of Music Choice, a New York-based multiplatform video and music network provider that produces music programming and content for digital cable television, mobile phone and cable modem users. Music Choice is a general partnership among subsidiaries of Microsoft, Arris, Sony, EMI Music Publishing and Time Warner, as well as US cable providers Comcast Cable Communications, Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable.
Stingray said its offer was presented to Music Choice’s management and communicated to each of the unitholders, which include Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox, Sony, WarnerMedia, Arris and Microsoft. The offer has not yet been accepted and will remain open for acceptance until August 31, Stingray said in a news release.
“We believe that our formal offer to purchase has strong merit and would bring a significant return on investment for Music Choice unitholders,” said Eric Boyko, president, co-founder and CEO of Stingray, in the news release. “Music Choice would benefit greatly from joining forces with Stingray, given that we are well positioned to expand and build Music Choice’s product portfolio and distribution in the United States and around the world. We look forward to bringing this process to a positive conclusion for the benefit of Music Choice unitholders and all stakeholders.”
This isn’t the first time Stingray has expressed interest in purchasing Music Choice. Back in 2013, the company reportedly entered into discussions with Music Choice, which later led Music Choice to sue Stingray for patent infringement in June 2016, claiming Stingray gained access to confidential information regarding its technology during those failed merger talks. Stingray filed a countersuit against Music Choice in August 2016. Then in October 2017, the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board announced it would review Music Choice’s patent infringement claims. To date, no settlement of either lawsuit has been reported.
