SkyPerfecTV to list shares, double capital

Satcaster funds upped to $777 mil, stock looks to 'Mothers'

By JON HERSKOVITZ

TOKYO -- The operating company for leading Japanese direct-to-home satcaster SkyPerfecTV said Thursday that it will double its capital to 80 billion yen ($777 million) by the end of March and look to list its shares in the fiscal year that starts April 1.

Capital for SkyPerfecTV will be raised by a private placement of shares among the company's main stockholders, which include Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., Sony and leading Japanese web Fuji Television.

The stock listing will come on "Mothers," a new section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange for high growth and emerging stocks that recently opened.

SkyPerfecTV has more than 1.5 million subscribers, and the capital boost will help it buy new programming and compete with new satellite channels from Japanese commercial nets that will take to the air in about a year.

The proceeds will also go to improving the company's digital media capabilities.