TVA plans sale of HBO Brasil stake

Partners TW, Sony, Disney, HBO Ole in buying mood

By MARCELO CAJUEIRO

RIO DE JANEIRO -- TVA is said to be prepping the sale of its 24% stake in HBO Brasil to its partners in the company.

HBO Brasil distribs seven channels -- HBO, HBO2, Cinemax, Sony, Warner, E! and Mundo -- in the country, making it the second largest pay-TV programmer after GloboSat.

The other HBO Brasil investors --Time Warner, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Disney and HBO Ole -- are expected to buy out TVA's stake.

TVA is controlled by Brazilian media conglom Abril, though U.S. media companies like ABC, Hearst and Disney hold minority stakes.

Sources said TVA will continue to offer the HBO Brasil package of channels to its own subs.

Once the sale of its stake in HBO Brasil goes through, TVA will retain an interest in just one net, the wholly owned Euro Channel, which features pics and series from Europe and is not believed to be attractive to other buyers.

TVA itself is up for sale. It has held talks with potential buyers like Telefonica Media and Hicks Muse.